Eusideroxylon
Encyclopedia
Eusideroxylon is a genus of evergreen
tree
s belonging to the Laurel family. The genus includes nine species of plant
in the family Lauraceae
. The genus is present in coastal rainforest and montane rainforest of Southeast Asia
They are evergreen hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The wood is very prized.
habitat.
Eusideroxylon zwageri, the species most named by its commercially valuable timber, is also known by the common names Borneo Ironwood and Belian. This hardwood trees grows up to 100 feet tall. Eusideroxylon zwageri is a renowned wood of the Borneo rain forests. The wood is impervious to termites, and the cut wood can last up to 100 years. Borneo Ironwood has been extensively harvested and, in some areas, destroyed. Conservation efforts are underway, with several countries banning imports of wood of those valuable trees. Widely exploited for its timber, A tree is 90 to 110 m3 of wood, species of Eusideroxylon genus are threatened with extinction because of overcut and deforestation. Listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of IUCN. The heartwood is basically brown to yellow, without streaks. Prohibition on export restrictions in Indonesia and Sarawak for its preservation.
floristic region.
The color of the flowers is pale yellow to yellow. The flower is hermaphrodite, actinomorfic. Present Inflorescences composed of hermaphroditic flowers, with perigonium. With 6 tepals, distribuited in two whorl
s at first and second whorl,imbricate.The pedunculus of the flower is colored from dark reddish brown to dark yellow brown. This genus is monoecious. The pollination
is done by bee
s and other insect
s. They have berries named drupe
s.
The seed is a drupe
varied in size and shape from oblong to ovate or sub-cylindrical to sausage shape or date shape. It could be asymmetric elongated or rounded. 8-13 cm long, diameter 4-5 cm weights 90-170 grs. Seed dispersal
by vertebrate animals. The fruits are a very important food source for bird
s and other wildlife, like reptils, rodents, muntjacs, monkeys and bats.
They are leafy canopy tree with erect or spreading branches. The tree produce sprouts. The thick, leathery leaves are dark green, lauroide type. Odour indistinct or absent.
mature leaves are dark green 26-29 cm long, 10-11 cm width. Young leaves reddish brown to yellowish red. Laurophyll or lauroide leaves are characterized by a generous layer of wax, making them glossy in appearance, and narrow, pointed oval in shape with an apical mucro, or 'drip tip', which permit the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing perspiration and respiration from plant. Plants of the laurel forests must adapt to high rainfall and humidity. The trees adapted by developing leaves that repel water.
It was dated the life span and growth rate of Borneo ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri
). Timber segments collected from 15 logged stumps in Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, and found that Eusideroxylon zwageri can live more than 1000 years y and that the growth rate of this species is very slow, with a mean radial growth rate of 0·058 cm y-1. The life span is much greater and the growth rate is much slower than those observed or estimated for trees of Dipterocarpaceae
, the dominant family in this tropical forest.
Eusideroxylon are trees of mature laurel forests, they are trees of slow growing and very long-lived, having a dense tree canopy, and low light levels at the forest floor. When the tree grows with its shadow is eliminating its competitors, needing a long time to establish itself as the dominant tree. The cutting of old trees causes that the species are replaced by other faster growing difficulting its regeneration in the habitat.
The long life span of this species may be caused by wood durability with a high specific gravity and abundant defensive compounds. Given equal carbon allocation, the high density and carbon-based defensive compounds may result in a reduced growth rate.
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s belonging to the Laurel family. The genus includes nine species of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
in the family Lauraceae
Lauraceae
The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...
. The genus is present in coastal rainforest and montane rainforest of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
They are evergreen hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The wood is very prized.
Overview
The natural habitat is forest which are cloud-covered for much of the year. Trees of large size of the lowland tropical forests, Attaignant 50 meters high and 220 centimeters in diameter of trunk. The genus is found in areas with high humidity and stable and mild temperatures, in a climate regime with well defined seasons, but lacking in sharp contrast. Also in laurel forestLaurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
habitat.
Eusideroxylon zwageri, the species most named by its commercially valuable timber, is also known by the common names Borneo Ironwood and Belian. This hardwood trees grows up to 100 feet tall. Eusideroxylon zwageri is a renowned wood of the Borneo rain forests. The wood is impervious to termites, and the cut wood can last up to 100 years. Borneo Ironwood has been extensively harvested and, in some areas, destroyed. Conservation efforts are underway, with several countries banning imports of wood of those valuable trees. Widely exploited for its timber, A tree is 90 to 110 m3 of wood, species of Eusideroxylon genus are threatened with extinction because of overcut and deforestation. Listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of IUCN. The heartwood is basically brown to yellow, without streaks. Prohibition on export restrictions in Indonesia and Sarawak for its preservation.
Description
The latin name of the genus means "new iron tree". They are canopy tree species with extremely durable and decay-resistant wood distributed in tropical rain forests of South-East Asia: Borneo, Java, Malaysia, Sumatra, Philippines, In lowland tropical forest (Senami forest), Jambi, Indonesia. It is native to the MalesiaMalesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundaries of the Indomalaya ecozone and Australasia ecozone, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom.-Floristic province:...
floristic region.
The color of the flowers is pale yellow to yellow. The flower is hermaphrodite, actinomorfic. Present Inflorescences composed of hermaphroditic flowers, with perigonium. With 6 tepals, distribuited in two whorl
Whorl (botany)
In botany, a whorl is an arrangement of sepals, petals, leaves, or branches in which all the parts are attached at the same point and surround or wrap around the stem.There are four whorls in a general flower...
s at first and second whorl,imbricate.The pedunculus of the flower is colored from dark reddish brown to dark yellow brown. This genus is monoecious. The pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
is done by bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s and other insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. They have berries named drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
s.
The seed is a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
varied in size and shape from oblong to ovate or sub-cylindrical to sausage shape or date shape. It could be asymmetric elongated or rounded. 8-13 cm long, diameter 4-5 cm weights 90-170 grs. Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
by vertebrate animals. The fruits are a very important food source for bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and other wildlife, like reptils, rodents, muntjacs, monkeys and bats.
They are leafy canopy tree with erect or spreading branches. The tree produce sprouts. The thick, leathery leaves are dark green, lauroide type. Odour indistinct or absent.
mature leaves are dark green 26-29 cm long, 10-11 cm width. Young leaves reddish brown to yellowish red. Laurophyll or lauroide leaves are characterized by a generous layer of wax, making them glossy in appearance, and narrow, pointed oval in shape with an apical mucro, or 'drip tip', which permit the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing perspiration and respiration from plant. Plants of the laurel forests must adapt to high rainfall and humidity. The trees adapted by developing leaves that repel water.
It was dated the life span and growth rate of Borneo ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri
Eusideroxylon zwageri
Eusideroxylon zwageri, the Ulin, is native to the Malesia region. It is one of the four species of the genus Eusideroxylon. It is known colloquially in English as Borneo ironwood and occasionally bilian ironwood or bilian...
). Timber segments collected from 15 logged stumps in Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, and found that Eusideroxylon zwageri can live more than 1000 years y and that the growth rate of this species is very slow, with a mean radial growth rate of 0·058 cm y-1. The life span is much greater and the growth rate is much slower than those observed or estimated for trees of Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...
, the dominant family in this tropical forest.
Eusideroxylon are trees of mature laurel forests, they are trees of slow growing and very long-lived, having a dense tree canopy, and low light levels at the forest floor. When the tree grows with its shadow is eliminating its competitors, needing a long time to establish itself as the dominant tree. The cutting of old trees causes that the species are replaced by other faster growing difficulting its regeneration in the habitat.
The long life span of this species may be caused by wood durability with a high specific gravity and abundant defensive compounds. Given equal carbon allocation, the high density and carbon-based defensive compounds may result in a reduced growth rate.
Main species
- Eusideroxylon borneensis
- Eusideroxylon melagangai
- Eusideroxylon lauriflora
- Eusideroxylon zwageri named Borneo Ironwood.