Production of quality wood is a big problem in forestry plantation since trees grown in plantation of some high value temperate and tropical hardwood species tend to produce low value, short butt logs and bolts due to crooked stems, low fork heights and delayed shedding of lower branches. Result from existing Acacia plantation in Malaysia indicated that most existing Acacia plantation trees especially Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium, fork very heavily which leads to the formation of multiple leaders more than one and some are fork so close to the ground that they will produce little to no merchantable wood. In this context, a research study was initiated to select and recommend the best performing tree species or provenance suited for timber production in Malaysia with respect to growth and other characteristics. Species/provenance/progeny test was conducted on four species of Acacia namely, A. mangium, A. auriculiformis, A. crassicarpa and A. aulococarpa, each with 4 provenances originated from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Queensland (QL). The growth performance of the provenances was monitored in terms of some quantitative and qualitative characteristics to evaluate the genetic variation and growth performance of a base breeding population. 20 progenies for each species were selected and randomly planted with 16 trees representing each progenies in a trial plot laid out in a randomized complete block * Corresponding author. M. S. Kumar et al. 218design consisting of four blocks as replication. The study showed that there were significant different (p < 0.05) between species, provenance and progenies for their growth performance. Generally with regard to growth, A. mangium performed better compared to other Acacia species in all of the aspect tested and it was followed by A. crassicarpa, A. aulococarpa and A. auriculiformis. There were also significant differences between provenance within regions and progenies within provenances in all quantitative and qualitative traits tested in this study. Generally, provenance and progenies selected from PNG excelled those from QL both in quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The top performing progenies of Acacia species are CG 1854 of (Bensbach WP) and KN000107 (SW of Boset WP) of A. mangium, BVG2609 (Bensbach WP) of A. crassicarpa, BVG 00835 (WP Morehead) and MM1016 (Arufi E Morehead WP) of A. aulococarpa and JSL363 (Wenlock River) and BVG 2657 (Bansbach) of A. auriculiformis. Note: BF = Bole form, SS = Stem straightness, FA = Forking ability, BS = Branch size, BA = Branch angle; Values are expressed in Mean ± Standard Error; Significant differences among species are indicated by different lower case letters (p < 0.05).

Grippin A., Nor Aini A.S., Nor Akhirrudin M., Hazandy A.H., Sures Kumar M., Ismail P. (2018): The prospect of micropropagating Gonystylus bancanus (Miq.) Kurz, a tropical peat swamp forest timber species through tissue culture technique -Review. J. For. Sci., 64: 1-8.Gonystylus bancanus (Miquel) Kurz is one of the most valuable timber species in tropical peat swamp forest. Its timber is widely used for furniture, decorative cabinets and interior decoration. Due to its higher demand, G. bancanus continues to be harvested which leads to its disappearance in the wild. This is worsened by the fact that germination rates in the wild are very poor due to rapid insect and fungal infestation. Even though vegetative propagation via stem cuttings has been successful, proper protocols on tissue culture need to be explored as a viable way of mass production of a large number of planting stock in a relatively shorter time for forest rehabilitation and enrichment planting purposes.