Dialium cochinchinense (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Protologue: Fl. forest. Cochinch. fasc. 24: pl. 384A (1898).

Vernacular names

Velvet tamarind (En)
Malaysia: keranji kertas kechil (Peninsular)
Cambodia: krâlanh lomië
Laos: kheng
Thailand: khleng (general), i-dang (northern), kayi (peninsular)
Vietnam: xoay, xây, nhội.

Distribution

Peninsular Burma, Laos, Cambodia, southern Vietnam, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. The species is planted locally in Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The timber is used as keranji. The sweet pulp of the fruits is edible. The tree is used locally as a shade tree.

Observations

A medium-sized tree of up to 30 m tall, bole up to 50 cm in diameter.
Leaflets 5-9, 4-8 cm × 1.5-5 cm, glabrescent.
Sepals 5, petals 0, stamens 2.
Fruit ellipsoid to ovoid, sometimes slightly compressed, 1.5-1.8 cm × 0.8-1 cm.

D. cochinchinensis occurs in evergreen and deciduous (dipterocarp) forest with a canopy varying from dense to open; from sea-level to 300 m altitude. The density of the wood is about 1100 kg/m³at 13% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

152, 235, 359, 578, 587, 626, 649, 779.

Main genus page

Dialium

Authors

J.P. Rojo (selection of species)