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| Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. MELASTOMATACEAE (CRYPTERONIACEAE). Trade and local names: merebong (MY-SWK); medank tabak (MY-SAB); sampinur (ID). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 3 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Indomalesia.
General. Heartwood basically brown (pinkish to red brown, often with dark flecks). Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour. Density 0.41–0.61 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels in multiples (only few), commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessel outline angular. Average tangential vessel diameter 120–200–260 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 2–6. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 6–12 µm, pits vestured. Vessel-ray pits with reduced borders or apparently simple, different from intervessel pits, horizontal to vertical. Ray-vessel pits often elongated horizontally.
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres very thin-walled to of medium wall thickness. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, distinctly bordered. Fibres partly with conspicuously bordered pits.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma vasicentric, aliform, and confluent. Aliform parenchyma of the winged type. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 6–8.
Rays. Rays 8–12 per tangential mm, exclusively uniseriate. Rays of one size. Height of large rays commonly 500 to 1000 µm. Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular); homocellular ray cells procumbent.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals present, oriented radially. Laticifers or tanniniferous tubes present. With large radial breakdown areas within some rays (not intercellular canals!) which appear on tangential surfaces as dark, lenticular flecks or holes, often visible to the naked eye.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals not observed.
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 partial ash. Ash white to grey.
Illustrations. • Transverse section. • Tangential section. • Radial section. • Breakdown area. radial breakdown area as seen in tangential section.
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’.
