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

Sea almond (Terminalia catappa)

Ketapang or tropical almond or beach almond or talisay tree or umbrella tree or sea almond ( Terminalia catappa ) is a species of plant in the Combretaceae, a shady tree, fast growing, forming a multilevel canopy, often used as a shade tree in gardens and on roadsides. T. catappa grows large, up to 40 meters in height and up to 1.5 meters in trunk, shady canopy with branches that grow flat and terraced, young trees often look like pagodas while old and large trees often have aerial roots up to 3 meters. The leaves are scattered, mostly at the end of the twig, rounded egg upside down, 8-38 cm long, 5-19 cm wide, the tip is wide, the base is narrow, the upper surface is smooth, green but turns red if to fall out and short stalks. The flowers are small, collected near the tips of the twigs, 8-25 cm long and green-yellow in color. The flowers are not crowned, the petals have five taju, are plate or bell shaped, 4-8 mm long and are white or cream in color. Stamens in two circles and arra...

Asian foxtail (Uraria crinita)

Asian foxtail or cat's tail bean ( Uraria crinita ) is a species of plant in Fabaceae, a perennial, upright shrub with woody stems at least at the base, up to 2 meters high in forests, agricultural land, waterways, used as a medicinal herb, green manure and sometimes planted in the garden as an ornamental plant. U. crinita has elongated leaves, rounded base, pointed tip, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, rough surface, dark green with white spots. Petiole short or less than 0.5 cm and brownish red. Compound flower in spike shape, purple and white triangular crown. Long flower stalk, erect, 15-20 cm long and only at the end of the flower. The crown slowly falls off and leaves behind a stalk that is shaped like coir or light yellow pads. Asian foxtail grows in dry grasslands, open forests, trash cans, roadsides, sandy areas and sometimes in deciduous forests, elevations of 0-1500 meters and does not grow in waterlogged places. The different parts are often used in t...

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...