Toona sinensis (PROSEA)
Introduction |
Toona sinensis (Adr. Juss.) M.J. Roemer
- Protologue: Fam. nat. syn. monogr. 1: 139 (1846).
Synonyms
- Cedrela sinensis Adr. Juss. (1830),
- Cedrela serrata Royle (1839),
- Toona serrata (Royle) M.J. Roemer (1846),
- Toona serrulata (Miq.) Harms (1896).
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: suren (general), ingul (Sumatra)
- Malaysia: surian bawang, surian wangi (Peninsular), rangau (Sabah).
Distribution
Nepal, India, Burma (Myanmar), China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo (Sabah); planted as shade and wayside tree in India, Sri Lanka and Europe.
Uses
The timber is used for construction, furniture and implements. The leaves serve as a vegetable and as fodder. Various parts of the plant, especially the bark and roots, are used medicinally. The tree is also planted for shade and as an avenue tree.
Observations
- A medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 40 m tall, with bole branchless for up to 20 m and up to 100 cm in diameter, bark surface fissured, greyish-brown to dark brown, bark with obnoxiously pungent odour when cut.
- Leaflets serrate or dentate, rarely entire, glabrescent above or hairy on veins.
- Petal margins, ovary and disk glabrous.
- Columella of fruit convex without apical scarring, fruit valves smooth to minutely lenticellate.
- Seed winged at one end.
T. sinensis occurs at 350-2500 m altitude, usually in primary montane forest, often near streams, but also in secondary forest. The density of wood from India is about 450 kg/m3at 12% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.
Selected sources
36, 38, 63, 140, 146, 195, 218, 331, 386, 526, 705.