Diploknema sebifera (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Diploknema sebifera Pierre

Family: Sapotaceae

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: merading, nyatoh kalan, putat (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: nyatoh kekabu (Peninsula), nyatoh puteh (Sabah).

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia (very rare) and Borneo.

Uses

Oil pressed from the seeds is used for making soap and candles. The oil is often referred to as "tengkawang" oil, although genuine tengkawang oil is obtained from Dipterocarpaceae such as Shorea species. The wood is utilized and traded as "nyatoh" timber but is not very important as the species is rare.

Observations

• A tree up to 45 m tall and 4 m in diameter.
• Leaves alternate, coriaceous, glabrous, usually crowded at apex of branchlets; stipules 2.5 mm long, caducous, petiole 1-4 cm long; blade obovate or spatulate, 7-24 cm × 3-7 cm, secondary veins 8-14 pairs, ascending, prominent below, tertiary veins few, transverse, prominent below.
• Inflorescence fasciculate on distinctly prominent warts, 3-7-flowered; bracts lanceolate, up to 2 mm long, ferruginously puberulous outside, glabrous inside.
• Flowers unisexual, male ones not yet known, female ones about 0.5 cm in diameter; pedicel 5-8 mm long, ferruginously tomentose; sepals 5, ovate or elliptical, 2-4 mm × 1-3 mm; corolla 10-12-lobed, 2-4 mm long, tube 1 mm long, lobes spatulate, 2-3 mm long, margin denticulate; sterile stamens (staminodes) 16-20, in 2 rows, petal-like, lanceolate, 2-4 mm long; ovary 6-8-celled, 1 mm long, ferruginously sericeous, ovules apically and centrally attached, campylotropous; style angular, 1-4 mm long; disk cup-shaped, 1.5 mm in diameter, irregularly 16-20-toothed, glabrous.
• Fruit an obliquely fusiform or subobovoid berry, 3-6 cm × 1-2 cm, apex obtusely acuminate, brownish floccose but glabrescent, pericarp subligneous, 1-3-seeded.
• Seed obovoid, 2-3 cm × 1 cm × 7 mm, hilum covering almost half of the seed.

D. sebifera occurs in primary forest up to 300 m altitude, on loamy soils, loamy soils with limestone, coral limestone rocks, sandstone, or sandy soils. In Borneo, it fruits in May-June. Seed germinates for about 75% in 3-5 weeks.

Selected sources

19, 56, 59, 96, 130, 135. oils

Authors

• A.S. Budi