Skip to main content

Amboyna pine (Agathis dammara)

Dlium Amboyna pine (Agathis dammara)

Damar or amboyna pine or Agathis alba (Agathis dammara) is a plant species in the Araucariaceae, a large tree with a height of up to 65 meters, a long, round cylindrical trunk with a diameter of more than 2 meters, cultivated as an industrial forest in tropical mountains for sap that is processed into copal.

A. dammara has a grayish or light brown or black bark with slightly reddish, finely dimpled to silvery and thin scales or with lots of resin or coarse blisters, peeling off in small pieces so as to be slightly epiphytic.







Opposite leaves, oval-shaped, very variable even on a single tree, tapering towards a rounded tip, thick fleshy and light to dark green in color. Young trees are lanceolate and sharp. Old tree is long oblong with rounded top, 15 cm long, 4 cm wide with 1-8 mm stalk.

Ripe seed cones are ovoid, 10.5x9.5 cm, cylindrical with loose surfaces, basal bracts form loose cupules and are often square, conical scales are almost triangular in shape, upper corners of scales are broad and thin rounded. The seeds are subovoid, 1.5 cm long and up to 1.3 cm long on one wing.

This tree grows naturally in lowland rain forests to an altitude of 1,200 meters. It is planted for harvesting resin which is processed into copal. Resin is the sap that comes out when the bark is injured. The sap will flow out and freeze in the air. Over time this sap will harden. Sap is also obtained from underground deposits.

The plant contains limonene, biflavone, amentoflavone, β-bisabolene, β-myrcene, alkaloids, steroids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, polyphenols. Sometimes used as an Alzheimer's medicine, HIV medicine, treating memory problems, wound medicine, asthma, liniment and has antibacterial activity.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Araucariaceae
Genus: Agathis Salisb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 311 (1807)
Species: Agathis dammara (Lamb.) Rich. in Comm. Bot. Conif. Cycad.: 83 (1826)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Agathis alba (Rumph. ex Bory) Oken in Lehrb. Naturgesch. 2(2.1): 603 (1825)
Agathis loranthifolia Salisb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 312 (1807)
Agathis orientalis Mottet in Dict. Prat. Hort. 1: 77 (1892-1893)
Agathis pinus-dammara Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck, Tabl. Encycl. 3: 711 (1823)
Dammara alba Rumph. ex Bory in Dict. Class. Hist. Nat. 5: 321 (1824)
Dammara loranthifolia Link in Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 2: 411 (1822)
Dammara orientalis Lamb. in Descr. Pinus 2: 16 (1824)
Dammara rumphii C.Presl in Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 6: 596 (1851)
Abies dammara (Lamb.) Dum.Cours. in Bot. Cult., ed. 2. 6: 474 (1811)
Pinus dammara Lamb. in Descr. Pinus 1: 61 (1803)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Agathis celebica (Koord.) Warb. in Monsunia 1: 185 (1900)
Agathis hamii Meijer Drees in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 3, 16: 462 (1940)
Agathis philippinensis Warb. (1900)
Agathis regia Warb. (1900)
Dammara alba var. celebica Hassk. in Abh. Naturf. Ges. Halle 9: 180 (1866)
Dammara celebica Koord. in Meded. Lands Plantentuin 19: 263 (1898)
Dammara orientalis var. alba C.Knight in Syn. Conif. Pl.: 45 (1850)
Dammara orientalis var. pallens Carrière in Traité Gén. Conif.: 426 (1855)

PUBLICATIONS

Farjon, A. (2010). A handbook of the world's Conifers 1: 1-526. BRILL, Leiden, Boston.

Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 1-529. MIM, Deurne.

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

VERNACULAR NAME

Bantoanon: Balaw
Buru: Damar raja, Kisi
English: Amboyna pine, Damar, Dammar pine, Dammar kauri, Celebes kauri,
Amboina pine, Amboina pitch tree
Filipino: Dayungon
Halmahera: Koano, Kolano, Moleauno
Indonesian: Damar, Damar biasa
Java: Damar
North Sulawesi: Dama, Damaa, Damah, Damahu, Rama, Marama puti
Samar: Dayungon
Sunda: Ki damar
Ternate: Salo

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 5, 2022 at 8:51 AM

    How does Agathi grow? By cuttings, or seeds?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Awar awar (Ficus septica)

Awar-awar or lagnob or hauli tree or barabar or sirih popar or tobo tobo ( Ficus septica ) is species of plants in Moraceae, trees grow in bushes or in neglected places and sap contained in roots, twigs, leaves and fruit is used to treat poisoning and digestive problems. F. septica is usually 1-5 m high, although in the forest it can be up to 25 m. Round, hollow and bare branches. Roots, twigs, leaves and fruit will emit a yellow sap and sticky if injured. The base of the leaves is large and spiky, arranged alternately or face to face with a stem length of 2.5-5 cm. Large leaf blade, round egg, 9-30x9-16 cm, rounded base and blunt narrow tip, flat-edged, upper side dark green with 6-12 secondary bones pale white. Fruit paired, single or clustered up to 4 items, short-stemmed, at the base has 3 protective leaves, light green or gray green and 1.5 cm in diameter. F. septica is food for 22 animal species including wasps, bats, birds, monkeys and mice as well as seed dispersing vecto...
Post a Comment
Read more