Palaquium walsurifolium (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Palaquium walsurifolium Pierre ex Dubard

Protologue: Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 56, Mém. 16: 22 (1909; "walsuraefolium").

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: balam putih, balam serindit (Sumatra), nyatoh jangkar (Kalimantan).

Distribution

Sumatra and Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah, Kalimantan); possibly also in Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The timber is used as nyatoh, especially for planks. The latex is sometimes used to adulterate gutta-percha. The fruits are edible. The seeds yield a fat which is used as illuminant.

Observations

• A medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 37 m tall with bole usually up to 50 cm in diameter and having stilt roots.
• Leaves loosely clustered at tip of twigs, obovate, with inconspicuous, transverse tertiary venation, initially pubescent beneath but soon glabrous.
• Flowers in 2-4-flowered clusters, borne on 3-7 mm long pedicels (in fruit up to 20 mm long).
• Fruit globose or ellipsoid, 1-2 cm long, glabrous.

P. walsurifolium usually grows in marshy forest or on peaty soils and is locally common. The timber is yellowish-brown, with a density of 560-840 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.

Selected sources

100, 190, 318, 461, 743, 779.

Main genus page

• Palaquium (Timbers)

Authors

• R.H.M.J. Lemmens (selection of species)