| | Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. BURSERACEAE. E.g. Canarium hirsutum Willd., C. indicum L., C. littorale Bl., C. luzonicum (Bl.) A. Gray. timbers of additional species of Canarium as well as other Burseraceae genera are equally traded as Kedondong, e.g. Dacryodes, Garuga, Protium, Santiria, Scutinanthe, and Triomma. Trade and local names: kenari, kerantai (ID); kerantai, upi, seladah (MY); upi (BN, MY-SWK); canarium, galip (PG); pili, pilingliitan, pagsahingin (PH); makoem (TH); tram (VN). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 5 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indomalesia.
General. Heartwood basically light to pinkish brown to red; without streaks. Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour, or distinct from heartwood colour. Odour indistinct or absent. Density 0.35–0.57–0.66 g/cm³.
Vessels. Vessels present. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Average tangential vessel diameter 120–200(–280) µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 6–15. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 8–12 µm. Typically hexagonal and compact. Vessel-ray pits with reduced borders or apparently simple, rounded or angular and horizontal to vertical, of uniform size or type or of two distinct sizes or types in the same ray cell. Helical thickenings absent. Tyloses present, thinwalled.
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres very thin-walled, or of medium wall thickness. Average fibre length 800–1400 µm. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres exclusively septate; evenly distributed.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma absent or extremely rare. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 3–8.
Rays. Rays 3–8 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 2–3(–4) cells wide. Height of large rays up to 500 µm. Rays composed of two or more cell types (heterocellular). Heterocellular rays with square and upright cells restricted to marginal rows, mostly 1 marginal row of upright or square cells. Sheath cells absent.
Storied structures. Storied structure absent.
Secretory structures. Oil and mucilage cells absent. Intercellular canals present or absent, oriented radially. Radial intercellular canals observed in: C. indicum, C. luzonicum C. ovatum, C. patentinervium, C. sylvestre, C. vrieseanum; not observed in: C. acutifolium, C. asperum, C. commune, C. euphyllum, C. hirsutum, C. littorale, C. oleosum, C. vitiense. Laticifers or tanniniferous tubes absent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present or not observed (see following comments), prismatic and druses, located in ray cells or axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square or procumbent, upright and/or square ray cells chambered or not chambered. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber predominantly one. Prismatic crystals in upright (chambered and non-chambered) and, occasionally, also in procumbent ray cells of: C. acutifolium, C. asperum, C. luzonicum, C. oleosum, C. ovatum, C. patentinervium C. sylvestre, C. vitiense, C. vrieseanum; in chambered upright cells and parenchyma strands of: C. commune, C. indicum, C. vulgare; druses occasionally in: C. acutifolium, C. patentinervium; crystals not observed in: C. euphyllum, C. hirsutum, C. littorale. Silica present or not observed, as grains; in rays cells, in axial parenchyma, in fibres (see following comment). Silica present in: C. asperum, C. hirsutum, C. oleosum (rays); C. euphyllum, C. ovatum (fibres); C. vitiense (rays, axial parenchyma, fibres); silica not observed in: C. acutifolium, C. commune, C. indicum, C. sylvestre, C. vrieseanum.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract not fluorescent. Colour of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Splinter burns to full ash. Ash white to grey.
Illustrations. • Macroscopic images. transverse (ca. 10x). tangential (natural size). • Transverse section. Canarium indicum. • Tangential section 1. radial intercellluar canal (RC). Canarium indicum. RC. • Tangential section 2. Canarium vrieseanum. • Radial section 1. Canarium vulgare. crystals in marginal ray cells (blow-up in subsequent picture). • Radial section 2. Canarium vrieseanum. crystals in marginal ray cells (blow-up in subsequent picture). • Crystals. Canarium indicum. prismatic crystals in chambered upright ray cells (left) and chambered axial parenchyma cells (right). • Silica. Canarium littorale. silica grains in marginal ray cells (left) and septate fibres (right).
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., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2000 onwards. Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Version: 9th April 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
