Skip to main content

Molucca albizia (Falcataria moluccana)

Sengon laut or Molucca albizia (Falcataria moluccana) is a species of wood-producing trees in Fabaceae, claimed to have the fastest growth in the world with the addition of a height of 7 m/year, producing white light wood for light construction, packing crates, particle boards and blockboards.

F. moluccana has a height of 40 m and a diameter of 100 cm or more, the main stem is generally straight and cylindrical with clear bole up to 20 m. The bark is gray or whitish, smooth or slightly warted with a line of lenticels. Shady canopy, umbrella-shaped and tenuous. Young twigs have sides and hair.

Dlium Molucca albizia (Falcataria moluccana)

Double pinnate compound leaves, small minor leaves, easily fall out with one or more glands on the stem and length 23-30 cm. Leaf fins number 6-20 pairs, each containing 6-26 pairs of elliptical or elongated minor leaves with a very tilted, pointed tip, 0.6-1.8x0.5 cm.

Small flowers, yellowish white, hairy, androgynous, collected in branched panicles, 10-25 cm long and located in the armpit of the leaf. A total of 5, toothed petals with a height of 2 mm. The crown tube is funnel-shaped, white and turns yellow, haired, 6 mm high. Large stamens, white, emerge from a tube and come out beyond the crown.

Molucca albizia produces thin, ribbon-like pods, straight, 6-12x2 cm with a stem length of 0.5-1 cm. The pods break down when they are old and throughout the seam and have 16 seeds or less.

Terrace wood is white or light brown, while sapwood is almost no different from hardwood. Wood has an almost slippery and shiny surface with a somewhat rough and even texture. Fresh wood has a strong odor that gradually disappears after the wood is dry.



Sengon laut has three subspecies: Falcataria moluccana falcataria, Falcataria moluccana salomonensis and Falcataria moluccana fulva. The original habitat is primary forests, but is often found in secondary forests and flood plains on river banks and sometimes in coastal forests.

Generally it is widely planted near settlements, road sides, river banks, fields, paddy fields, tea, coffee and dry fields. Sengon laut also lives in the open and likes clay soil at an altitude of 1650 m. Very fond of wet climates to rather dry and can grow on infertile, stagnant and slightly salty soil.

F. moluccana is classified as light wood, specific gravity is 0.33, strong class IV-V and durable class IV-V. Wood is easily preserved and dried even though fibers that are not straight often occur with bends and twisting. Natural drying of boards with a thickness of 2.5 cm and a moisture content of 20% requires 33 days.

Wood is easily sawed, shaved, shaped, sanded and pulverized. Drilling and making square holes sometimes give unsatisfactory results. Traditionally widely used as boards, rafters, beams, poles and others.

Now commonly used for making boards, packing crates, veneers, pulp, fiber boards, particle boards, blockboards, lighters, footwear, soap crates, household furniture, toy materials, packaging materials and paper. Wood will be more durable and long lasting after being painted and calcined or given other treatments as deemed necessary.

F. moluccana is also often planted as an ornamental plant, shade and shade tree in plantations, erosion control, green manure and firewood. The leaves are used to feed chickens and goats. Bark produces a tanning agent used as mesh.

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
(unranked): Mimosoid clade
Genus: Falcataria
Species: F. moluccana
Subspecies: F. moluccana falcataria, F. moluccana salomonensis and F. moluccana fulva

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,

Sengiran (Pittosporum moluccanum)

Sengiran ( Pittosporum moluccanum ) is a species of plant in the Pittosporaceae, small tree, up to 7 meters high, green leaves, elliptical to narrow elliptical, up to 17 cm long, up to 6 cm wide, sharp tip, narrow base and 1-1.5 cm long stalk. P. moluccanum has an inflorescence which is a collection of flowers. The fruit is red, capsule-shaped, elongated oval, sharp tip, 2 broken valves containing small and red seeds. This species grows in forests, plantations, roadsides, open or shaded areas. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Apiales Family: Pittosporaceae Genus: Pittosporum Species: Pittosporum moluccanum

Evolution theory goes beyond

OPINION - As a Wallacean and Darwinian, I have always viewed life from the perspective of evolutionism. I see the world of plants and animals always using evolutionary theories. How a species develops functional organs, forms morphology, adapts to ecosystems and so on as a natural laws. This perspective ultimately forms my framework for thinking about various things, including the way I see myself, everyday problems and the way I think about big things such as economics, geopolitics, war and so on using an evolutionary perspective. Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck are three great figures who really inspired me. They are well known as pioneers of evolutionary theories. They start from small things in the sub-subject of biology, although they also discuss geology and so on. Wallace focused on species adaptation and Darwin on sexual selection. Both developed evolutionary thinking using observational methods. Lamarck focused on structural morphology using l