Heritiera sylvatica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Heritiera sylvatica S. Vidal

Protologue: Revis. pl. vasc. filip.: 66 (1886).

• Tarrietia sylvatica (S. Vidal) Merr. (1903).

• Philippines: dungon.

The Philippines; possibly also in Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.

The timber is used as dungun in the Philippines.

• A large tree, up to 45 m tall, with columnar bole of 12-18 m long and up to 100 cm in diameter, buttressed.
• Leaves simple, silvery scaly beneath, petioles 1-5 cm long, slender.
• Panicles lax, up to 13 cm long.
• Fruit with fairly large wing, scaly.

H. sylvatica grows in dry primary forests at low and medium altitudes, and is locally abundant in the Philippines. The wood is very similar to that of H. littoralis and, just like that species, smells like leather. The density of the wood is about 945 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

378, 486, 579, 735.

• Heritiera

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