| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: THYMELAEACEAE. Further trade and local names: Trâm huong, dó bâu (VN); aloewood, agarwood (GB, US); bois d'aigle, bois d'aloès (FR); karas, kayu garu (MY); gaharu mengkaras (MY-Swk); akyau (MM); tanduk, udúr (IN); kaju alim, kaju gaharu (ID); Chan krasna (KH); tengala (BN). Code according to DIN EN 13556: none.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B).
Geographic distribution. Temperate Asia to Indomalesia.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically yellow, white or grey; without streaks. Sapwood similar to heartwood colour. Odour indistinct or absent. Wood light weight and soft. Interlocked grain absent.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows, or in radial rows of 4 or more. Vessels small to medium ((60-)95–150); very few, or few ((7-)13–16(-25)). Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) absent.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma not visible.
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure absent.
Resin canals. Normal resin canals absent.
Included phloem. Included phloem present; diffuse.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract not fluorescent; colour shade of ethanol extract yellow. Splinter burns to full ash; colour of ash white to grey.
Additional information. • Transverse section + commercial grades. Aquilaria spp. + Gyrinops spp. (Adlerholz, eaglewood). Transverse section ca. 10x. The material of these species is traded as small resin-impregnated chunks, so-called "nuggets", sold in different grades (see illustration). ungraded. grade 3. grade 2. grade 1.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
