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| Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Trade and local names: Amboine, santal rouge (FR); amboyna, red sandalwood, padauk (GB); angsana (BN, ID, MY); sonokembang (ID); New Guinea rosewood (PG); apalit, vitali (PH); sena, padouk, ansanah (MM); chan dêng (LA); pradu, sano (TH). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 13 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indomalesia.
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct and indistinct or absent. Nearly semi-ringporous in some specimens. Heartwood basically brown, red (light reddish or orange brown); with streaks. Sapwood colour distinct from heartwood colour. Density 0.55–0.9 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood ring porous or semi ring porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows or in radial rows of 4 or more or in clusters. Average tangential vessel diameter 100–180–250 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 2–4. Average vessel element length 200–300 µm. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 8–12 µm, pits vestured. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Helical thickenings absent. Other deposits present, pinkish brown deposits.
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids sporadic to absent. Fibres of medium wall thickness to very thick-walled. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present, banded and not banded. Bands marginal (or seemingly marginal) and not marginal (or seemingly marginal). Axial parenchyma bands much wider than rays. Bands fine. Axial parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and 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: 2.
Rays. Rays present, 6–14 per tangential mm, exclusively uniseriate and multiseriate, 1(–2) cells wide, narrow (2–3 seriate). Height of large rays up to 500 µm. Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular); homocellular ray cells procumbent.
Storied structures. Storied structure present, all rays storied, axial parenchyma storied, vessel elements storied, fibres storied. Arrangement of tiers regular. Number of ray tiers per axial millimetre 4–5.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent; colour of water extract yellow. Heartwood extractives leachable when in contact with water. Ethanol extract fluorescent. Colour of ethanol extract red. Froth test positive (weakly positive). Splinter burns to partial ash. Ash white to grey.
Illustrations. • Transverse section 1. • Transverse section 2. • Tangential section. • Radial 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’.
