Aquilaria beccariana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Aquilaria beccariana van Tieghem

Family: Thymelaeaceae

Synonyms

• Aquilaria cumingiana (Decne) Ridley var. parviflora Airy Shaw,
• A. grandifolia Domke,
• Gyrinopsis grandifolia Quis.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: garu tanduk (Kalimantan), mengkaras putih (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: gaharu, gumbil, njabak.

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo.

Uses

Possibly a source of agar wood, as are A. crassna Pierre ex H. Lecomte and A. malaccensis Lamk.

Observations

• Tree, up to 20 m tall, trunk smooth, grey, up to 36 cm in diameter.
• Leaves alternate, subcoriaceous; petiole 5-7 mm long; blade oblong-lanceolate, 7-27 cm × 3-8.5 cm, glabrous.
• Inflorescence short paniculiform, axillary or extra-axillary.
• Pedicel 3-7 mm long; flowers 7-12 mm long, yellow-green to yellow-white; floral tube cylindrical with 5, ovate, 2-3 mm long lobes and 10 oblong, about 1 mm long petaloid appendages; stamens 10, sessile; pistil with a distinct stipe.
• Fruit an ellipsoid or obovoid capsule, 2-3.5 cm × 2 cm, stipe up to 1.5 cm long.
• Seed ovoid, 10 mm × 5 mm, black with a 5 mm long tail.

A. beccariana occurs in primary forest from sea-level up to 800 m altitude. Other possible sources for agar or eagle wood from Malesia are: Aquilaria filaria (Oken) Merrill (tree, up to 17 m tall, occurring in the Philippines, Moluccas and New Guinea), Aquilaria hirta Ridley (synonym: A. moszkowskii Gilg; under surface of the leaves and the fruits densely pubescent; tree, occurring in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and eastern Sumatra), Aquilaria microcarpa Baillon (tree, up to 40 m tall with small fruits 1.5 cm in diameter, in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Belitung, Bangka and Borneo) and Aquilaria rostrata Ridley (under surface of the leaves and the fruits sparsely pubescent; rare tree, only known from Peninsular Malaysia).

Selected sources

• Hou, D., 1964. Notes on some Asiatic species of Aquilaria (Thymelaeaceae). Blumea 12: 285-288.
• van Steenis, C.G.G.J. et al. (Editors), 1950- . Flora Malesiana. Series 1. Vol. 1, 4- . Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen