Aquilaria malaccensis Lam. Thymelaeaceae

Abstract

Botany and Ecology Description: Tree, up to 40 m or rarely to 49 m tall, trunk to 60 cm across. Buttresses sometimes present. Outer bark whitish-gray, smooth. Twigs pubescent, finally glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, borne on 3-6 mm long petiole; blades oblonglanceolate to elliptic-oblong, 6-12 Â 2.5-5.5 cm, vary from papery to leathery, base obtuse, acute, or attenuate, apex with distinct acumen up to 2 cm long, lateral veins 12-16 on each side of the midrib, tend to be irregular, obscure or flat above, raised beneath, intercostal venation obscure above, distinct beneath. Flowers arranged in variously positioned branched inflorescence, axillary, supraaxillary or terminal, peduncle 5-15 mm long, branches usually 2 or 3, each branch consists of umbellate inflorescence, flowers about 10. Flowers green to a dirty yellow, actinomorphic, on 3-6 mm long pedicels. Calyx forming a campanulate tube, pale green or green, 5-6 mm long, 10-ribbed, clad with minute hairs on the outside, glabrous inside; lobes reflexed, ovate-oblong, 2-3 mm long, densely hairy inside; petaloid appendages slightly incurved, ovate-oblong, c. 1 mm long; stamens 1-2 mm long, stalk absent, pubescent; style obscure, ended by a capitate stigma. Fruits pendulous, stalk usually indistinct; obovoid or narrowly so, 3-4 Â 2.5 cm, cuneate at the base, apex rounded; subtended by persistent calyx, lobes up to 1 cm across, hairy at first, later glabrous, with a woody pericarp. Seeds ovoid, 10-11 Â 6 mm including the beak, clad with red hairs, with tail-like funicle, funicle pubescent. Germination epigeal.