Eusideroxylon zwageri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Eusideroxylon zwageri

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)

Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Magnoliids
Order:
Laurales
Family:
Lauraceae
Genus:
Eusideroxylon
Species:
E. zwageri
Binomial name
Eusideroxylon zwageri
Teijsm. & Binn.

Synonyms[1][2]

Bihania borneensis Meisn.

(unresolved)

Eusideroxylon borneense
Fern.-Vill.

Salgada lauriflora Blanco

Eusideroxylon zwageri is a rare timber tree native to the Malesia region. It is known colloquially
in English as Borneo ironwood[3] or ulin.[3]

Contents

1 Distribution

2 Description

3 Habitat

4 Silviculture

5 Properties

6 Usage

7 Endangered status

8 Trade

9 Malaysian timber theft

10 Indigenous beliefs

11 See also

12 References

13 Additional references

14 External links

Distribution
It is native to Brunei; Flores, Java, Kalimantan and Sumatra in Indonesia; the Sabah and Sarawak
states of Malaysia; and the Sulu Archipelago of the Philippines.[4] It is threatened by habitat loss.
The government of Indonesia and the state government of Sarawak have formally banned the
export of this species. Illegal smuggling continues to be a major problem.[5]
Eusideroxylon zwageri grows in lowland primary and secondary forest up to 625m altitude.[6] It
prefers well-drained soils, sandy to clay-loam, sometimes limestone. It is commonly found along
rivers and adjacent hills. It requires an average annual rainfall of 25004000 mm. It occurs
scattered or in groups.
This very important tree is one of the most durable and heaviest timbers in the world. It is now
threatened by over-exploitation, lack of regeneration and difficulties in cultivation.[7]

Description
Eusideroxylon zwageri is a slow growing tall evergreen tree with a straight bole (usually host to
Cassytha a parasitic vine with leaves reduced to scales up to half of the tree height. It is slightly
fluted at the base, up to 150220 cm in diameter. The trunk has many small, rounded buttresses
that give the base and elephant-foot like appearance. The trees can grow to attain over 1,000
years of age. Common commercially exploitable trees attains a height of 30 or more metres
(100 ft) with trunk diameters of exploitable trees up to 92 cm (36 inches). Protected trees are
towering giants of the forest attaining a height of up to 50 metres and a diameter of 220 cmthough height is routinely reduced by lightning strike.[8]
The trees' leaves are dark green, simple, leathery, elliptical to ovate, 14-18 long (5.5-7.5 inches)
and 511 cm wide (2-4 inches), and are alternate, rarely whorled or opposite, without stipules
and petiolate . The Leaf blade is unlobed (unlobed or lobed in Sassafras ) the margins entire and
occasionally with domatia (crevices or hollows serving as lodging for mites) in axils of main
lateral veins (in Cinnamomum ).[9]

The Inflorescences are in axils of leaves or deciduous bracts include, panicles (rarely heads),
racemes, compound cymes, or pseudoumbels (spikes in Cassytha ), sometimes enclosed by
decussate bracts.[9] The flowers are bisexual only or staminate and bisexual on some plants,
pistillate and bisexual on others. The flowers are usually yellow to greenish or white, rarely
reddish. The hypanthium are well-developed, resembling calyx tube tepals and the stamens
perigynous. The tepals are in groups of 6 to 9, in 2 or 3 whorls of 3 and sepaloid. If tepals are
unequal will then usually possess 3 outer smaller rather than inner 3. This is occasionally absent
in Litsea. The stamens are in groups of 3n and in whorls of 3, but 1 or more whorls frequently
staminodial or absent. The stamens of the third whorl has 2 glands near base, There are 2-4
locular, with locules opening by valves.[6]
There is one pistil and one carpellate. Thre is one locular ovary of placentation basal; one ovule;
stigma subsessile, discoid or capitate. The fruits drupes, drupe borne on pedicel with or without
persistent tepals at base, or seated in deeply cup-shaped receptacle (cupule), or enclosed in
accrescent floral tube . In the fruit there is one seed with endosperm absent. The fruits are
poisonous to humans but have medicinal properties.[9]
The parasite vine, Cassytha is sometimes placed in its own family, Cassythaceae.

Habitat
Eusideroxylon zwageri seedlings require some shade, while older trees need plenty of light.[10] It
can be found in valleys and on hillsides and even on low ridges when soil moisture is sufficient
at elevations between sea level and 625 m. The standing timber volume of trees with a diameter
of over 50 cm may be as much as 90-112 m3.[6]

Silviculture
Eusideroxylon zwageri has a very slow growth rate of mean radial growth of 0.058 cm per year.
It is a canopy species in primary forests. The species is considered unsuitable for large-scale
plantations due to slow growth and inadequate seed and seedling supply. Manual selection of
trees in natural forests is common.[10][11]

Properties
The heartwood when cut is coloured light brown to almost bright yellow. During the aging
process the heartwood darkens to deep reddish brown, very dark brown or almost black. The
sapwood is bright yellow when cut, and darkens slightly. The wood texture is fine and even, with
a straight grain or only slightly interlocked. The timber retains a pleasant lemon odour. This
odour, along with the woods' natural high lustre, make it prized by cabinet-makers and fine
furniture craftsmen.
The wood is dense (0.85 1.1 g/cm)? and texture is moderately fine to fine and even. Also
attractive to users is the resistance to insects, bacteria, fungi and marine borers.[9] The wood has
anti-bacterial properties (for local medicinal use)[12] Vessels are diffuse-porous, medium-sized
and generally evenly distributed, arranged in short radial rows (2-3 vessels). Moderate
abundancy of aliform paratracheal parenchyma. Growth rings boundaries are indistinct or absent.
Tyloses are often present.[9]
The wood has a radial shrinkage rate of 2-4.5% and a tangential shrinkage rate of tangential 4.57.5%. The timber dries slowly, and care is needed to avoid checks and splits.
The wood is famed for its easy working characteristics, despite high density. The wood planes,

bores and turns cleanly, producing smooth and often lustrous surfaces. Nailing requires pre-bores
prior to nailing. Saw blades and cutting instruments are only moderate blunted during working
the timber. Apparently, the wood is difficult to glue with synthetic resins.[9]
Durability: heartwood is rated as very durable immune to termite attack; service life of up to
100 years in direct soil contact and more than 20 years for marine work in tropical waters has
been reported.

Usage
Due to the excellent resistance to bacterial, fungal, insect and marine borer attack the wood is
highly prized for many outdoor uses. Additionally, the wood's high density and easy workability
lend it to particularly desirability in maritime structures, dock construction and ship building,
especially Indonesia's famous pinisi sail-boat.[13] Common local uses include: House
construction, door construction, water butts and troughs, boat building (Pinisi), tools, tool
handles, talisman, jewellery, medicinal slivers(for wounds, cuts, abrasions, bites and toothache/infection), bridges, blowpipes? and spear shafts.
Internationally, it is renowned for heavy construction such as a buffer between transportation
trailers and heavy steel fabrications (such as boilers, pressure vessels, reactors and many others).
It is also frequently found in dry docks as a timber to separate the hull of ships from the steel
supporting stands. Other uses include use in boats and ships, industrial flooring, roofing (as
shingles), fine indoor and outdoor furniture, coffin wood (esteemed by Chinese due to ability to
withstand rot and insect attack) and tool handles (especially those exposed to continual high
impact (the wood does not splinter and thus injure hands, eyes or endanger the operator on
catastrophic failure) such as shovels, axes, block splitters, sledge hammers, heavy mallets,
demolition hammers, mattocks, picks, hoes and hammers). Some expert cabinet-makers treasure
an ulin-headed carpenter's mallet as an excellent intermediate density hammer face between the
usual wood and a metal one- and is able to quite easily tap or "whack" stubborn highly-polished
metal fixtures without damage to the face or the fixture.
Other sources indicate that ulin wood is often used for marine constructions such as pilings,
wharfs, docks, sluices, dams, ships, bridges, but also used for power line poles, masts, roof
shingles and house posts and to a minor extent as frame, board, heavy duty flooring, railway
sleepers, fencing material, furniture etc.

Endangered status
The decline of this species which was first noted in 1955. Browne (1955) stated: Our surviving
supplies of Belian are by no means very large and undoubtedly dwindling. Population reduction
has been noted in the following regions: Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sabah, Sarawak, and the
Philippines.[7] IUCN has categorized it Vulnerable A1cd and A2cd.[7] CITES listed II Bi
(unsustainable level of exploitation from the wild for international trade).[7] Regeneration in
logged-over forests is limited.[12][14]
The species is threatened by over-exploitation, predominantly by illegal migrant loggers. Current
demand for the timber is fueled for its esteem among Chinese as a coffin wood (as it is resistant
to insect and rot). Included in list of vanishing timber species of the Philippines and considered
almost extinct in Sabah. In Java and Sumatra it exists solely in National Parks. Currently the
situation is assessed as a serious depletion of stands. The species is only planted on a small scale
because the supply of seeds and seedlings is inadequate. The world-famous ITB Bogor

Agricultural Institute (Insitut Pertanian Bogor)( os currently breeding a generation of plants more
hardy than the wild harvested seeds [5][12]

Trade
Indonesia has a total prohibition on export, and cutting is restricted to trees less than 60 cm
diameter measured at breast height. In Sarawak, export in any form is not allowed without
special permission. Sabah still allows export.

Malaysian timber theft

The bulk of all ulin wood is found in Kalimantan, bordering the Malaysian states of almost
exhausted Sabah and essentially extinct tracts of Sarawak[15] Motivated by the high price per
cubic metre, Malaysian illegal loggers have been documented felling, transporting via river and
river barge Indonesian protected trees into bordering Sabah.[16]
In addition to the issue surrounding the sovereignty of the Andaman Islands and continuing spats
over the delineation of Malaysian-Indonesian borders- this outraged the Indonesian public, who
had been educated to conserve and protect this tree on pain of severe penalty rioted in protest in
Jakarta and Pontianak and publicly called for the resurrection of the Crush Malaysia policy
known as Ganyang Melayu albeit terming Ganyang Maling-sia (Maling: Indonesian for a
common thief).[16]
The government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dispatched heavily armed Forestry Wardens to
deter the thieves. It is expected this issue will be one of the foremost challenges of the winner of
the 2009 Indonesian Presidential Election, with the winner expected to take a far stronger and
militant stand on Malaysian theft of resources, also, most of the South East Asian country
suspected that this was an Indonesian Republic plan to take over Malaysia for its huge amount of
resources or just wanted to make Malaysia 'lost their thunder' since Malaysia is one of the
biggest South East Asia industrial country, even though they are smaller than the Indonesian
country. Still, most of the Indonesian citizen disagree with this accusation.[16]

Indigenous beliefs
Many Dayak believe that the ulin wood acts as a protective talisman to avoid attack from tigers
and elephants. The Dayak believe that this use of the ulin talisman and the stands of ulin trees
was and is the sole cause of a lack of Sumatran elephants or Sumatran Tigers in Kalimantan and
Sarawak. The potent 'elephant and tiger repellent' is alleged to be the sap of the tree, which has a
strong, pleasant lemon-like odour.

Pohon Ulin, Kayunya Sekeras Besi

Pohon ulin atau belian (Eusideroxylon zwageri) adalah salah satu pohon berkayu yang tumbuh
secara alami di hutan tropis di Sumatera dan Kalimantan. Ulin umumnya tumbuh pada
ketinggian 5 400 m di atas permukaan laut dengan medan datar sampai miring, tumbuh
terpencar atau mengelompok dalam hutan campuran.
Pohon ulin memiliki ciri yang khas, yaitu sifat fisik kayunya yang keras dan juga tahan terhadap
perubahan suhu, kelembaban, dan pengaruh air laut, sehingga sering disebut juga dengan nama
kayu besi.
Dalam penelitian kelas keawetan 200 jenis kayu Indonesia terhadap penggerek di laut yang
dilakukan oleh Mohammad Muslich & Ginuk Sumarni, kelas keawetan kayu ulin ini termasuk
kelas awet I dengan berat jenis 1,04, lebih tinggi daripada kayu jati yang tergolong kelas awet II
dengan berat jenis 0,65.
Oleh karena keawetannya tersebut, jenis kayu ini sering digunakan untuk bahan bangunan,
seperti konstruksi rumah, jembatan, tiang listrik, dan perkapalan.
Dalam pembuatan rumah khususnya di Kalimantan, masyarakat memanfaatkan kayu ulin sebagai
bagian utama dari tiang, lantai rumah, dinding, patok-patok tanah dan atap sirap.

Sifat fisik pohon ulin yang keras tersebut ternyata tidak hanya pada bagian kayunya, namun juga
bijinya.
Proses perkecambahan biji ulin membutuhkan waktu cukup lama, yaitu sekitar 6 12 bulan.
Pada saat ini, penggunaan kayu ulin yang semakin meningkat ditambah lagi dengan
pembudidayaannya yang cukup lama dan persentase keberhasilan relatif rendah, menyebabkan
jenis ini dimasukkan kategori jenis langka (vulnerable) dalam IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species.

Referensi :
@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusideroxylon_zwageri
@ http://yudhihendros.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/pohon-ulin-kayunya-sekeras-besi/
@ http://ekonomi.kompasiana.com/bisnis/2012/10/20/natural-resource-cursekutukan-sumber-daya-alam/