TREES COMMONLY CULTIVATED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Tectona grandis Verbenaceae
Synonym: Tectona theka
Common names: Teak (En); jati, deleg, kulidawa (Ins); sak (Lao); kyun (Mya); sak, mai-sak
(Tha); caay teech, gias tij (Vie).
Description: A medium to large sized tree, 25–50 m tall
with a straight trunk, 1–2.5 m in diameter, with dark
greyish-brown, ridged bark and often low buttresses. The
deciduous leaves are simple, large, up to 55 cm long and
37 cm wide, short stalked, cuneate at base, ovate, round
or obovately oblong with keeled midrib under-neath. The
about 40 cm long inflorescence at tip of branches have
numerous small yellowish-white flowers with pink stain, 3–
Key characteristics: Straight
trunk; low buttresses;
deciduous large, simple leaves
to 55 cm long, 37 cm wide;
inflorescence at branch tips, to
40 cm long; many small
yellowish white flowers.
6 mm long with 5–7 lobed calyx which eventually becomes inflated enclosing the fruit. Several
forms have been distinguished primarily based on different leaf characters.
Use: An all-purpose timber tree used particularly for boat building, furniture, rails, docks, quays,
piers and floodgates, house building, bridge construction, musical instruments and poles. Dye
can be produced from young leaves and the bark of the root. Bark and wood also have various
traditional medicinal uses.
Ecology: Found naturally in various types of tropical deciduous forests up to about 1,000 m on
fertile, well drained soils, often associated
with Afzelia xylocarpa, Xylia, Terminalia and
Lagerstroemia spp. as well as bamboos.
Distribution: Native to southeast Asia, where
it occurs naturally in Myanmar, Laos,
Thailand and was introduced hundred years
ago to Indonesia. Now cultivated in many
countries both inside and outside the region,
including China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
References: Hensleigh & Holaway (1988),
Soerianegara & Lemmens (1994).