Adinandra (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Adinandra Jack

Protologue: Mal. Misc. 2: 49 (1822).

Family: Theaceae

Chromosome number: x= unknown;A. dumosa: 2n= 20,A. griffithiiDyer:n= 42,A. millettii(Hook. & Arn.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Hance: 2n= 84

• Samak (trade name). Oriomo redwood (En)
• Malaysia: tetiup, tiup-tiup (Peninsular), semapak (Sarawak).

Adinandra comprises about 80 species occurring from Sri Lanka and India to Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and throughout the Malesian region (except for the Moluccas). In the latter area the species are distributed as follows: Peninsular Malaysia 10, Sumatra 5, Java 3, Borneo 18, the Philippines 8, Sulawesi 3, the Lesser Sunda Islands 1 and New Guinea 1, which renders the genus a mainly West Malesian one.

The wood of Adinandra is used for general construction, flooring, panelling, door and window frames, joinery, furniture, planking and poles for temporary constructions, and yields a good quality plywood. The wood is also suitable as firewood and for the production of charcoal.

A. dumosa may be useful for afforestation or as a cover crop.

"Samak" is the trade name for timber of the genera Adinandra , Gordonia and Schima . In 1996 Papua New Guinea exported only 61 m³of "Oriomo redwood" logs at an average free-on-board (FOB) price of US$ 104/m³.

Adinandra yields a medium-weight hardwood with a density of 530-860 kg/m³at 15% moisture content. Heartwood typically grey-brown with a purple hue, to dark red-brown, not clearly differentiated from the cream to reddish-straw or yellow-pink sapwood; grain straight or interlocked; texture very fine to slightly coarse and even. Growth rings indistinct; vessels moderately small to moderately large, typically angular, mostly solitary, sometimes blocked with gum-like deposits; parenchyma rather sparse, mostly apotracheal diffuse, indistinct even with a hand lens; rays moderately fine, visible with a hand lens; ripple marks absent.

Shrinkage upon seasoning is low to moderate. The wood air dries fairly slowly: boards of A. dumosa of 13 mm thick take 3 months to air dry, boards 38 mm thick take 4 months, and boards of A. villosa of 25 mm thick take 5 months. There is a moderate risk of cupping and splitting and a high risk of staining during seasoning. The wood is moderately hard to hard and strong. It is fairly easy to easy to work, although planing may be slightly difficult. The pulp yield is low. The wood is durable under cover. The sapwood is probably resistant to Lyctus . The heartwood is resistant to preservative treatment.

See also the tables on microscopic wood anatomy and wood properties.

Evergreen shrubs or usually small to medium-sized, or rarely large trees up to 30(-43) m tall; bole straight, sometimes sinuous in small trees, branchless for up to 20(-25) m, up to 80(-100) cm in diameter, without buttresses but sometimes with spurs; bark surface smooth but densely lenticellate, sometimes flaking or peeling off in small irregular scales, dark grey or brown to green-brown, inner bark hard, dull yellow to red-brown, purplish or pink and faintly laminated. Leaves distichous, simple, entire, exstipulate. Flowers axillary, solitary or rarely in pairs or small fascicles, 5-merous; sepals and petals connate at base; sepals unequal; stamens 15-many, in 1-5 bundles and adnate to the base of the corolla; ovary superior, 3-5-locular with many ovules in each cell and often with additional false septae; style 1. Fruit a berry or capsule with few to many, small seeds; calyx persistent. Seedling with epigeal germination; cotyledons emergent, leafy; hypocotyl elongated; first few leaves alternate.

The shoot system is dimorphic with orthotropic leaders with spiral leaves and plagiotropic branches bearing distichous ones. A. dumosa develops according to Roux's architectural tree model, characterized by a monopodial, orthotropic trunk with continuous growth, plagiotropic branching and flowering which does not influence the architecture. Both young and old leaves are reddish. Most species seem to flower and fruit throughout the year. A. dumosa starts to flower about 2-3 years after planting or when the plants are about 1 m tall. The flowers are self-pollinated. In Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore the seed of A. dumosa is dispersed by the fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis .

Adinandra is sometimes placed in the Ternstroemiaceae , a family formerly recognized as distinct from Theaceae s.s.

Adinandra occurs in primary and secondary lowland to montane rain forest, sometimes in monsoon forest or swamp forest, up to 2000(-2700) m altitude. A. dumosa is a colonizer, rapidly invading degraded land. In Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore it is dominant in the common vegetation type called "adinandra belukar" being the result of secondary succession after exhaustive agricultural exploitation. Several other species characteristic of kerangas, which is found in similar locations with occasional drought, are present in this formation. A. dumosa , however, is best adapted to open conditions, poorly aerated soil and restricted supply of nutrients.

Silviculture Adinandra may be raised from seed. In germination trials in Malaysia about 75% of the seed germinated in 21-54 days in the case of A. acuminata , versus 11-24 days for A. dumosa . Adinandra species may spontaneously invade grasslands (e.g. of Imperata ) where they are remarkably resistant to fire.

A. dumosa is a rain forest pioneer and therefore it is favoured by human activity. It is not known whether other, less widespread Adinandra species react in the same way.

A. dumosa is promising for use on plantation scale, although its wood quality is not outstanding and very little is known of its silvicultural aspects.

70, 92, 151, 163, 198, 209, 267, 378, 387, 402, 423, 436, 438, 444, 464, 543, 578, 678, 701, 829, 831, 832, 861, 1016, 1038, 1039, 1221, 1239, 1242.