Palaquium philippense (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Palaquium philippense (Perrottet) C. Robinson

Protologue: Philipp. Journ. Sc. 3: 304 (1908).

Synonyms

• Madhuca philippensis (Perrottet) Baehni (1965).

Vernacular names

• Philippines: malak-malak (Tagalog, Pampangan), dalakan (Iloko), manogtalisai (Panay Bisaya).

Distribution

The Philippines (Luzon, Leyte, Mindoro, Panay, Negros, Mindanao).

Uses

The timber is used as nyatoh for furniture and cabinet making, cigar boxes and ship planking. The fruit is edible. The seeds yield an oil which is used for illumination or for cooking.

Observations

• A medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall, with bole up to 80(-120) cm in diameter.
• Leaves clustered at tip of twigs, obovate, narrowly obovate to spatulate, with inconspicuous transverse tertiary venation, densely yellowish-brown hairy beneath.
• Flowers in 4-7-flowered clusters, borne on 13-45 mm long pedicels, greenish-yellow or greenish-white.
• Fruit ellipsoid, c. 3 cm long, glabrous and green.

P. philippense is common in primary forests at low and medium altitudes. The heartwood is reddish-brown, with a density of 440-610 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. The timber is traded as "red nato", together with other Palaquium species, and is obtainable in limited quantities; it is moderately strong, easy to work, but very perishable when exposed to the weather or in contact with the ground.

Selected sources

36, 175, 451, 480, 484, 486, 579, 743.

Main genus page

• Palaquium (Timbers)

Authors

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