Skip to main content

Secang (Caesalpinia sappan)

Secang or Biancaea sappan (Caesalpinia sappan) is a species of small tree or shrub, 4-10 m tall, grayish-brown or green stems and has many protuberances like teeth with many thorns that are curved downward and scattered, young twigs and buds have fine hair that is smooth tanned.

C. sappan has brown taproot, stems grow upright, compound leaves and double pinnate with 3-4 mm support, green and easy to fall. The main leaf bone is 25-40 cm long with 9-14 pairs of side leaf bones.

Dlium Secang (Caesalpinia sappan)

Secang has 10-20 pairs of minor leaves on each side of the leaf bone, facing each other, oval shaped, 10-25x3-11 mm with a tilted base and curved ends, with flat edges and short hair.

Flowers in panicles at the tip of the stem or in the upper armpits, 10-40 cm long, have protective leaves for 5-12x2-5 mm, hair and fall off easily. Pedicels have a length of 15-20 mm.

Yellow flowers, number 5, bald petals and taju has a size of 7-10x4 mm. The flower crown has hair, 9-11.5x6-10 mm, the upward has smaller size, has nails for 5 mm, stalks for 15 mm and pistils for 18 mm.

The fruit in pods, oval and asymmetrical, 6-10x3-4 cm, has a beak tip, yellowish green and becomes reddish brown when ripe. Each pod has 2-4 seeds, ellipsoid, 15-18x8-11 mm and blackish brown.







Secang grows in the tropics at an altitude of 500-1000 m on sloping lands and cannot stand inundation. This plant grows on clay soil or rocky limestone or sandy soil near rivers.

Wood is used as a coloring agent for food, clothing, plaits and other items. Wood also has properties as astringensia. The main ingredients are brazilin as an antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-photoaging, hypoglycemic, vasorelaxant, hepatoprotective and anti-acne.

Wood extract also has anti-tumor, anti-virus, immunostimulant and others properties. The Javanese use pieces of sappan wood to mix herbal ingredients and one of the ingredients for making distinctive refreshments in Yogyakarta.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Tribe: Caesalpinieae
Genus: Caesalpinia
Species: Caesalpinia sappan

Popular Posts

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Sweetpotato bug (Physomerus grossipes)

Kutu ketela or sweetpotato bug ( Physomerus grossipes ) is an insect species in Coreidae, brown with black legs, adults growing about 2 cm long, oval shaped, segmented antennas, heavily veined membranes, metathoracic odor glands and enlarged rear tibia. P. grossipes generally live in Leguminosae and Convolvulaceae especially sweet potato ( Physomerus grossipes ), pink morning glory ( Ipomoea carnea ), purple beans ( Vigna unguiculata ), Asian pigeonwings ( Clitoria ternatea ) and common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris ). Sweetpotato bugs suck liquid from the stem which causes plants to wither and disrupt fruit production. P. grossipes places eggs at the bottom of the leaves or stems or grass around them. Females are very protective of their children, keeping eggs and nymphs from predators as the most famous example of maternal care in Coreidae. Even so, about 20% of eggs are eaten by predators such as ants and 13% are lost by parasitoid predation by chalcid wasps which lay eggs in egg...

Yellow potter wasp (Delta campaniforme)

Yellow potter wasp ( Delta campaniforme ) is a species of animal in Vespidae, solitary wasp, shiny yellow, shiny black, dull black and brown with a yellow striped belly, a long and narrow waist, a nest built using mud and a circle attached to a cliff. D. campaniforme has a black head with a yellow plot in the center and two transverse plots on the right and left. A pair of black eyes. A pair of antennas, long, yellow with a black base and tip. The back is yellow and black. A large black plot semicircle at the top of the front. The two plots form a circular line at the top of the back. A pair of wings is brownish black and transparent. The stomach has the shape of a water droplet, pointed tip, black with yellow and black segments, alternating to form stripes. Linear folds on the sides. The underside of the front is brown and large. The middle section has alternating yellow and black segments that form stripes. The stomach and back are connected by a long, narrow, downward curved pipe...