Cratoxylum arborescens (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) Blume

Protologue: Mus. Bot. Lugd.-Bat. 2: 17 (1852).

Synonyms

• Cratoxylum cuneatum Miq. (1859),
• Cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) Blume var. miquelii King (1890).

Vernacular names

• Brunei: gerunggang
• Indonesia: geronggang (general), lede (northern Sumatra), gerunggang (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: geronggang (general), serungan (Sabah).

Distribution

Southern Burma, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.

Uses

C. arborescens is the most important source of geronggang timber.

Observations

• A medium-sized to large, evergreen tree of up to 50 m tall, bole up to 65(-85) cm in diameter, bark surface fissured or fissured and papery scaly, brown to grey-brown or yellow-brown, inner bark laminated, pink to orange.
• Leaves 2-4 times as long as broad, 5-16 cm × 2-6 cm, with an acute to cuspidate apex, sometimes scarcely glaucous beneath, secondary veins united at the margin to form an intramarginal vein; inflorescence terminal.
• Flowers homostylous, petals red or rarely orange or white, with a fimbriate nectary appendage.
• Seeds 10-18 per locule, winged all around.

C. arborescens occurs scattered but is sometimes dominant and gregarious in coastal swamp forest up to 900(-1800) m altitude. The density of the wood is 350-610(-710) kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

24, 33, 89, 100, 144, 146, 159, 276, 359, 461, 690, 692, 696, 748, 779, 807.

Main genus page

• Cratoxylum

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)