Bitangor Laut (Calophyllum inophyllum L.)

BINTANGOR LAUT

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom : Plantae

Division : Magnoliophyta

Class : Magnoliopsida

Subclass : Dilleniidae

Order : Theales

Family : Clusiaceae / Guttiferae

Genus : Calophyllum

Scientific name : Calophyllum inophyllum L.

Non-preferred scientific name : Balsamania inophyllum (L.) Lour.

Synonym name : -

Local name (Vernacular name) : Bitangor Laut, Bitangor Bunga, Penaga Laut, Penaga Air, Pudek

English name : Alexandrian Laurel, Beach Mahogany, Oil Nut Tree, Beauty Leaf

Others name : Poon Tree (Indian), Beach Calophyllum (Papua New Guineae), Dilo (Fiji), Kamani, Kamana (Hawaii), Te itai (Kiribati), Funa (Maldives)

DISTRIBUTION

Calophyllum inophyllum is a large evegreen tree in the family Clusiaceae native from East Africa, southern coastal India to Malesia and Australia. Nowadays it is widely cultivated in all tropical regions of the world, including several Pacific Islands. Because of its decorative leaves, fragrant flowers and spreading crown, it is best known as an ornamental plants.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The seedlings start out growing erect and with few branches. Growth slows after the first few years and the trees branch out, often developing multiple stems. Old trees in coastal environments are often bent and twisted by the wind and support many large horizontal branches and multiple stems.

Growth rate

In Malaysia one stand of trees attained a diameter of 50 cm (20 in) at breast height in 70 years.

Rooting habit

The tree has a non-aggressive root system.

Reaction to competition

The tree is only slightly shade tolerant and will not grow under dense forest canopies. It grows slowly in height and may be overwhelmed by weeds in young plantations.

MORPHOLOGY

• Size

Calophyllum inophyllum is a medium-sized to large evergreen tree 8–20 m (25–65 ft) in height, sometimes reaching up to 35 m (115 ft). Canopy width is often greater than the tree’s height when the tree is grown in open locations.

• Typical form

It has a broad, spreading crown, often with large, gnarled, horizontal branches. The light gray bark shows deep fissures alternating with flat ridges. Sap is milky white.

• Flowers

It bears clusters of 4–15 fragrant white flowers about 2.5 cm (1 in) across and 8–14 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long on long, sturdy stalks in leaf axils. There are 4–8 oblong petals. Trees may flower all year, but flowering is heaviest in late spring/early summer and late fall in the northern hemisphere.

• Leaves

The opposite leaves are dark green, shiny, and hairless with broadly elliptical blades 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long and 6–9 cm (2.4–3.6 in) wide. Both the tip and base of the leaves are rounded. Leaf veins run parallel to each other and perpendicular to the midrib. The scientific name Calophyllum comes from the Greek words for “beautiful leaf.”

• Fruit

Fruits are 2–5 cm (0.8–2 in) in diameter. The skin, which turns yellow and then brown and wrinkled when the fruit is ripe, covers the thin pulp, the shell, a corky inner layer, and a single seed kernel. Fruits are usually borne twice a year.

CHEMICAL CONTENTS

• Tree bark

Inophylic acid, tannin and xhanton. The test shown the dried bark contents 12% tannin.

• Leaves, bark and root

Hidrocianic acid and saponin

• Sap

Complex derivative of coumarine

• Seed

Oil and resin. Oil of seed contains free fatty acid, calophylic acid, oleic acid, palmitic and stearic, calophylic lacton and isomer calophylic lacton.

ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTION

• Venation

Main venation somewhat close type; marginal vein fimbriate

• Epidermis

Adaxial anticlinal walls sinuous; abaxial anticlinal walls sinuous; stomata paracytic

• TS Lamina

Adaxial epidermis and abaxial epidermis as high as wide, hypodermis: nil. Palisade 11/2 layers, spongy mesophyll 3-9 layers of cells, sclereids nils, crystals: druses in spongy mesophyll, few in palisade cells, trichomes nil. Secretory cells: laticifers in mesophyll tissue. Vascular bundles with fibre girders extending to adaxial epidermis.

• TS Margin

Tip tapering slighty, straight; fibres at tip

• TS Midrib

Outline: adaxial surface flat, abaxial surface V-shaped. Collenchyma nil. Vascular tissue: open type, V-shaped; sheath: groups of thin-walled “sclerenchymatous cells” in parenchyma tissue near phloem; trichomes nil, secretory cells: laticifers in ground tissue, crystals: druses in parenchyma cells.

• TS Petiole

Outline: adaxial surface slighty convex, adaxial surface wide V-shaped. Vascular tissue open type, wide V-shaped. Sheath nil, trichomes nil. Crystals: druses in parenchyma cells. Outer tissue: 25-30 layers of parenchyma cells, collenchyma nil. Secretory cells: laticifers in ground tissue.

USES AND PRODUCTS

• Fruit

The mature fruit is burned for mosquito repellent.

• Nut/seed

Oil derived from the seeds was used as an alternative to candlenut oil in lamps by some Polynesians. It may also be used for massage or hair oil, particularly when scented. The oil is also used to finish wooden bowls.

• Medicinal

Oil from the seed is used for cosmetic and topical applications for healing of burns and skin diseases. The latex or a decoction of the bark is also sometimes used medicinally. A decoction of the leaves was used to treat eye ailments over much of Polynesia and westward into Malaysia.

• Beautiful/fragrant flowers

Flowers are used in leis (garlands), to scent hair and to scent bark cloth.

• Timber

The beautiful wood has a fine, lustrous texture that shows a distinctive interlocked grain. It is white and red when fresh cut and ages to a reddish brown. Because of this interlocked grain, sawn surfaces tend to be woolly. The wood is moderately dense, specific gravity 0.6–0.8, and is somewhat difficult to work due to the interlocked grain. In Hawai‘i the tree provides one of the most valuable woods on the market, although timber is often unavailable. It has been used for paneling and furniture. Elsewhere the wood is used for general cabinetry, construction, and boat building. It has, however, been variously described as vulnerable or resistant to termite attack.

• Craft wood/tools

The wood is particularly useful for food platters and calabashes, as it imparts no taste to the food. It is also prized for handicrafts because of its beauty. In Palau it is a favorite wood for carving traditional storyboards

• Canoe/boat/raft making

The tree has traditionally been used in boat building.

• Thatch/roofing/mats

The bark is used as shingles for house walls in Yap.

• Resin/gum/glue/latex

Latex from the cut bark has been made into a poison to kill rodents and stun fish.

• Body ornamentation/garlands

The nuts are hollowed out and the shells are used in making leis. In ancient times whistles were made from the hollowed-out shells.

• Dye

In ancient Hawai‘i, a brownish-mauve dye for tapa or bark cloth (kapa) was made from the fruit husks. The bark contains tannins that have been used to toughen fish nets.

• Cosmetic/soap/perfume

The flowers and the sap were used to scent bark cloth (kapa) in old Hawai‘i.

• Oil/lubricant

The seed oil is used as a wood finish.