Terminalia citrina (Gaertner) Roxb. ex Fleming
Family
Combretaceae
Synonyms
Terminalia arborea Koord. & Valeton, T. comintana Merr., T. curtisii Ridley.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | jelawai belang rimau, antoi puteh (Peninsular), talisai jambu (Sabah). |
| Indonesia | blabah (Javanese), tengeh caah (Sundanese), mertaki (Sumatra). |
| Philippines | binggas (general), apunga (Tagalog), bungras (Bikol). |
| Thailand | samo-dingu (central), samo-muak, samo-liam (peninsular). |
Geographical Distributions
Terminalia citrina is distributed from India and Burma (Myanmar) towards Thailand and throughout Malesia except for New Guinea.
Description
T. citrina is a medium-sized to fairly large tree that can reach up to measure 40 m tall. The bole is up to measure 210 cm in diametre and usually with small buttresses up to measure 3 m high. The bark surface is smooth and scaly with large thin scales, fawn and brown or greyish-brown in colour. The inner bark is laminated and pink or yellow-brown with a yellow band at the cambium.
The leaves are arranged alternate to opposite, elliptical to oblong-elliptical in shape, with a size of measure about 3-14 cm x 1.8-6.5 cm, rounded to broadly wedge-shaped at the base, pubescent to almost hairless rufous, with 9-12 pairs of secondary veins and 5-25 mm long petiole.
The flowers are in an axillary or terminal panicle of measuring 3-6 cm long. The sepal tube is hairless outside.
The 5-angled fruit is an ellipsoid to slightly spherical in shape, with a size of measure about 2-3 cm x 0.8-2 cm and smooth.
Ecology / Cultivation
T. citrina occurs scattered but usually frequent in lowland forest and along seashores, up to 200 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 5 (2): Timber trees: Minor commercial timbers.
