Madhuca boerlageana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Madhuca boerlageana (Burck) Baehni

Protologue: Boissiera 11: 37 (1965).

Synonyms

• Ganua boerlageana (Burck) Pierre ex Dubard (1908).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: arupa merah, arupa putih (Ambon), raka (Morotai).

Distribution

The Moluccas and Irian Jaya.

Uses

The timber is used in house building and for ship masts.

Observations

• A medium-sized tree with straight bole; leaves evenly distributed, narrowly obovate to obovate or elliptical, 14-24 cm × 4-7 cm, secondary veins joined near margin, glabrous, stipules very small or lacking.
• Flowers with fringed sepals glabrous inside, 7-8-lobed corolla pubescent on both sides near apex of lobes, 16-20 stamens and glabrous pistil.
• Fruit ovoid, c. 3.5 cm × 1.5 cm, with thin pericarp, usually 2-seeded.
• Seed with thin testa, thin or lacking albumen and thick cotyledons.

Plants from Irian Jaya have been distinguished as var. latifolia v.d. Assem, differing slightly in leaf characteristics. G. boerlageana is found in lowland forest, in Irian Jaya up to 800 m altitude. The density of timber from Irian Jaya is 620-850 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.

Selected sources

36, 318, 728.

Main genus page

• Madhuca (Timbers)

Authors

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