Payena lanceolata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Payena lanceolata Ridley

Protologue: Journ. Roy. As. Soc. Straits Br. 79: 93 (1918).

Synonyms

Payena lancifolia H.J. Lam (1925), Isonandra lancifolia (H.J. Lam) Baehni (1965).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: balam (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: nyatoh ekor, ekor, beliau (Peninsular)
• Thailand: kun, cha-kun, phikun-nok (Surat Thani)
• Vietnam: cata (Phan Rang).

Distribution

Southern Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and western Sumatra.

Uses

The timber is used as nyatoh.

Observations

A large tree up to 43 m tall, with columnar to fluted bole, up to 65 cm in diameter, and thin buttresses; leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, glabrous on both sides; flowers small, up to 0.7 cm long, white or pale yellow; fruit ovoid, 3-4.5 cm long, usually with a long apical beak. A distinct variety occurs in Vietnam: var. annamensis (Lecomte) v. Bruggen (synonym: Payena annamensis Lecomte); it differs from var. lanceolata in having narrower sepals, a sometimes 7-lobed corolla, longer and more slender stamens, a sometimes 6-7-lobed ovary, and a thinner fruit-wall. In Peninsular Malaysia P. lanceolata occurs in lowlands and hills up to 300 m altitude. The density of the timber is high for nyatoh, about 830 kg/m³at 15% moisture content.

Selected sources

36, 102, 235, 581, 727, 779, 792.