Terminalia bellirica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Terminalia bellirica (Gaertner) Roxb.

Protologue: Pl. Corom. 2: 54, tab. 198 (1805; "bellerica").

Family: Combretaceae

Chromosome number: 2n= 24, 48; once recorded as 26

Synonyms

• Terminalia punctata Roth (1821),
• Terminalia laurinoides Teijsm. & Binnend. ex Miq. (1855),
• Terminalia bellirica var. laurinoides (Teijsm. & Binnend. ex Miq.) Clarke (1878).

Vernacular names

• Beleric myrobalan, belliric myrabolan, bedda nut tree (En)
• Myrobalan belleric (Fr)
• Indonesia: jaha kebo, jaha sapi (Javanese), jaha (Madura), ulu belu (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: jelawai, mentalun, simar kulihap (Peninsular)
• Burma: thitsein
• Cambodia: srâmâr piphéék
• Laos: hèèn, nam kièng dam
• Thailand: si-ba-duu (Karen, Chiang Mai), haen, haen-khao, haen-ton (northern), samo phi phek (central)
• Vietnam: bàng hôi, bàng ḿôc, nhú't, bàng nước, mung trằng, bông dêu

Origin and geographic distribution

Beleric myrobalan is found in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Indo-China, and throughout Malesia, but is apparently absent in the Philippines and New Guinea. This species is only rarely cultivated.

Uses

The fruits are commercially used for tanning hides into leather, often in combination with other tanning materials. Beleric myrobalan is principally used in the production of sole leather.

The fruits yield a dye that is occasionally used together with iron sulphate for dyeing black cloth and matting, as a cheap substitute for indigo, and for the preparation of ink.

The kernels can be eaten, but they possess narcotic properties. The oil extracted from the kernels is used for hair-oil and in the manufacture of soap. The fruits are much applied in local medicine, for instance in Java and India. Unripe fruits are purgative, whereas ripe fruits are astringent and often employed in a mixture with chebulic myrobalan (Terminalia chebula Retz.) in cases of diarrhoea, haemorrhoids and dropsy.

The wood is considered to be of little value. It is used for construction in regions where other timber is scarce or expensive. It is used e.g. for boxes, furniture, and house construction after being steeped in water to make it more durable. Large-sized stems are used for dug-outs. The tree also yields a good-quality firewood and charcoal.

Production and international trade

No data are available on international trade of beleric myrobalan fruits. For the tanning industry in India, beleric myrobalan is much less important than chebulic myrobalan, and it is likely that it forms part of the production figures given for T. chebula.

Properties

The dried fruit-pulp contains somewhat less tannin than chebulic myrobalan, ca. 20-25%. The tannin can be classified in the ellagitannins, and is fairly similar to that of T. chebula, but it lacks corilagin and chebulic acid. It is often used as a substitute for chebulic myrobalans. The kernels yield about 40% of a clear yellow oil, composed of 12% palmitic acid, 16% stearic acid, 43% oleic acid and 29% linoleic acid. Excellent soap can be prepared using a mixture of 60% of this oil, 25% coconut oil and 15% groundnut oil.

The timber is yellowish-grey, lacking heartwood, light to moderately heavy (volumetric mass 570-750 kg/m³), without characteristic odour or taste, fairly straight-grained, very coarse-textured. It is not durable, and very prone to insect attack. Growth rings are fairly distinct when viewed through a lens. Vessels extremely large to medium-sized, fairly evenly distributed, few to moderately few (2-7/mm), the majority solitary and in radial groups of 2-4, occasionally in larger or even double rows, round to oval in outline, open; lumina occasionally with yellow or brownish-yellow gum, tyloses lacking, perforations simple, nearly horizontal to oblique. Parenchyma paratracheal, apotracheal and terminal, abundant, distinct to the naked eye, mostly in numerous, fairly wide, sometimes broken wavy or straight tangential bands partially or completely enclosing the vessels, rarely aliform with short lateral extensions; lumina with large crystals, starch deposits abundant in outer layers of wood. Fibres non-septate with simple pits. Rays fine to very fine, indistinct to the naked eye.

See also the table on wood properties.

Description

• A large briefly deciduous tree, up to 50 m tall, with a straight clean bole up to 20 m long, with a diameter at breast height of up to 2(-3) m, buttressed when large; bark blueish or ashy grey, with numerous fine longitudinal cracks, yellowish inside; young branches thick, initially densely pubescent.
• Leaves spirally arranged or crowded at the ends of the branchlets, thin-coriaceous, broadly elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 4-20 cm × 2-11 cm, rounded to cuneate at base, rounded or obtuse, more rarely acuminate at apex, entire, rufous-sericeous but soon glabrescent, with 6-9 pairs of secondary veins, secondary and tertiary venation prominent on both surfaces; petiole 2-5(-9) cm long.
• Flowers in axillary 3-15 cm long spikes, 6-7 mm across, yellowish, with a distinct disk and 5 recurved, deltoid calyx-lobes, densely-sericeous or tomentulose; corolla absent; stamens 10, exserted; ovary inferior, unilocular, 2-ovuled.
• Fruit a subglobose to broadly ellipsoid drupe, 2-2.8 cm × 1.8-2.2 cm, 5-angular, minutely stipitate at base, densely and very finely pubescent, with 5 well-marked longitudinal ridges; exocarp hard, endocarp sclerenchymatous.
• Germination is hypogeal, seedling with a long, thick, tapering taproot, an indistinct hypocotyl and thick fleshy cotyledons; first leaves opposite or alternate, small, subsequent leaves alternate and larger.

Growth and development

The germination rate is quite high for fresh seeds, 85-100%, but declines rapidly when seeds have been stored for some time. Germination usually takes 2-5 weeks. Seedling growth is moderate during the first growing season, but this improves afterwards under good conditions. A long stout taproot is formed, and the young stem is erect, unlike many other Terminalia species. Young trees grow rapidly, and have a straight and terete stem; buttresses are formed in older trees. Volume increment is moderate. In a closed stand the crowns are small and the foliage is thin; fruiting is sparse. When growing in the open, crowns are dense, large and spherical, and fruiting is more abundant.

In experimental plantations in Java on good soil, trees had reached a height of 20-25 m in 15 years, after a few thinnings. In Java, flowering takes place in October-November, fruits are set in February and ripen in August-December. Trees are leafless for a short period (some weeks) in the dry season.

Pollination may be done by insects, as the flowers have an unpleasant odour, which attracts flies. Dispersal of seeds is by many animals, both arboreal and terrestrial ones like pigs, deer and goats. The stones in the fruits are often completely disgorged by ruminants, aiding in such dispersal, but the seeds are often destroyed by rodents and insect pests.

Ecology

T. bellirica occurs scattered in deciduous forest, in dry regions associated with teak, sometimes in considerable numbers. It is seldom found in evergreen forest. The species prefers periodically dry soils. It has a wide ecological range, but does not grow above 600 m altitude. The species is light-demanding, but is somewhat shade-tolerant in youth. It is fairly sensitive to frost, though seedlings can survive, particularly when covered with grass; it is moderately drought-tolerant. In its natural area of distribution mean annual precipitation varies from 1000 to over 3000 mm.

Propagation and planting

Seeds may be sown directly in the field when conditions are favourable. Usually depulped and sun-dried, but not too old stones are used. Soaking in cold water for 24 hours before sowing has been reported to be beneficial. Buried seeds have a better chance of successful germination. Germination needs much moisture. When seedlings are raised in the nursery, transplanting to the field before the taproot has developed is strongly preferable, and mostly successful. Clipping of roots and shoots checks growth considerably, stumping is not advised. For good results, plantations have to be established on fertile soils, and spacing has to be fairly wide.

Husbandry

Experimental plantations on Java, with spacing 3 m × 1 m, closed their canopy within 5 years, but an undergrowth could maintain itself quite well. Mixed planting was tried, but beleric myrobalan outcompeted other species fairly rapidly. Pruning wounds closed well. As the timber value is marginal and myrobalan production is poor in closed plantations, such planting is not advised. In India it has been found to react well to coppicing, but pollarding gave no good results; increment was found to be moderate.

Diseases and pests

Living trees have few diseases and pests. The seeds and the timber are attacked frequently by borers.

Handling after harvest

When fruits are dried after picking, they are conserved satisfactorily for tanning purposes, even for long-distance shipping. Tanning extracts may be prepared in the same way as described for chebulic myrobalans.

The timber seasons fairly rapidly to moderately slowly, with almost no degradation. Durability may be increased by steeping in water for some time. The timber is difficult to plane smoothly, but is fair in mortising, shaping and boring. Turning is reported to be poor. Preboring for nails is advised, to avoid splitting. Sanding works well. The timber absorbs much polish, and soon loses its lustre. Peeling is very easy, and veneer is good. Preservatives do not always penetrate well.

Prospects

Compared with the harvesting of tanning bark, collecting myrobalan fruits is an easy way to obtain tannins, whereby also the tree source is spared. Beleric myrobalan is indigenous to large parts of South-East Asia, but it usually grows scattered in the forest and is rarely very common. This makes it difficult to collect satisfactory amounts of fruits from the wild for tanning purposes, as is done in India for chebulic myrobalan. It was found in Java that the trees only grew well on rich soils, and that it took a long time before they started fruiting. Moreover, fruiting was sparse in close stands. However, in more open, mixed forest, attempts might be made to improve regeneration of this species, by sowing seeds in favourable places, as was done fairly successfully in places in India for T. chebula. More research on regeneration, growth and development, and potential uses of beleric myrobalan is needed, as much less is known about this species than about chebulic myrobalan.

Literature

• Chadha, Y.R. (Editor), 1976. The wealth of India. Raw materials. Vol. 10. Publications & Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. pp. 164-167, fig. 50.
• Exell, A.W., 1954. Combretaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (Editor): Flora Malesiana, Series 1. Vol. 4. pp. 569-571, fig. 14(28), 20, 21.
• Japing, H.W. & Oey Djoen Seng, 1936. Cultuurproeven met wildhoutsoorten in Gadoengan 6 (slot) [Cultivation trials with non-teak tree species in Gadungan 6 (end)]. Tectona 29: 651-701.
• Wind, R., 1924. Bijdrage tot de kennis van de plantaardige looimiddelen en het vraagstuk der looistofvoorziening van Nederlandsch-Indië [Contribution to the knowledge of vegetable tanning materials and the question of tannin supply in the Dutch East Indies]. Mededeelingen van het Proefstation voor het Boschwezen No 9. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indië, Batavia. pp. 251-252.

28, 77, 78, 162, 163, 179, 261, 331, 449, 465, 648, 705. timbers

Authors

• J.M. Fundter, N.R. de Graaf, J.W. Hildebrand & J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg