Buchanania arborescens (Blume) Blume

Family

Anacardiaceae

Synonyms

Buchanania florida Schauer, Buchanania lucida Blume, Buchanania platyphylla Merr.

Vernacular Names

Geographical Distributions

Buchanania arborescens is distributed from India and the Andaman Islands to Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan, Thailand, throughout the Malesian region towards the Solomon Islands and northern Australia.

Description

Buchanania arborescens is an evergreen tree, small to fairly large but rarely large and measures up to 35(-42) m tall. The bole is cylindrical, straight, branchless for up to 20 m, measures up to 100 cm in diametre, and sometimes with small buttresses up to 1(-4) m high. The surface of the bark is smooth or pock-marked, pale whitish to grey-brown or reddish-brown. The inner bark is fibrous, reddish-brown or pink, and exuding a clear, colourless or pink or greyish gum. The crown is compact.

The leaves are arranged spirally, simple, entire, sessile or petiolate and exstipulate. The leaves are folded lengthwise where the first pair is opposite and the subsequent ones are arranged spirally.

The flowers are in an axillary panicle, small, (4-)5(-6)-merous and whitish. The sepal is lobed, persistent or caducous. The stamens are twice the number of the petals while the anthers are usually arrowhead-shaped. The disk is shallowly cup-shaped while the margin is dentate. The ovary is superior, with 4-6 carpels, connate at the very base only with 1 ovule each, usually only with 1 fertile carpel, with short style, oblique stigma and truncate.

The fruit is a 1-celled drupe with woody or bony stone. The seed is with free testa from the endocarp. Seedling is with epigeal germination. The cotyledons are emergent and fleshy while the hypocotyl is elongated.

Ecology / Cultivation

Buchanania arborescens is a fairly common lower-storey tree over sandy and rocky coasts, kerangas and river banks, but is also found in peat swamp forests and on limestone hills.

Line Drawing / Photograph

References

1. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.5(3): Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers.