Sifat anatomi the least known wood species suku Magnoliaceae: Talauma gigantifolia Miq., T. liliifera O. K., T. rubra Miq., dan T. singapurensis Ridl.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Indonesia has 4000 species of trees, but only 400 species of them have been known as commercial timbers. Magnoliaceae is a family which its member has not been much studied yet, except of Aromadendron elegans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to asses the wood properties of Talauma gigantifolia, T. liliifera, T. rubra and T. singapurensis, macroscopicand microscopically, and then compared them to the property of A. elegans’ wood. These four species of Talauma spp. were expected to be a better substitution of A. elegans which has been commonly used for construction and furniture manufacturing. In this study, the authentic wood samples collection of Xylarium Bogoriensis 1915 of Research and Development Center of Forest Engineering and Forest Products Processing, Bogor were used as the sample. Each species was represented by small portion of their heartwood. METHODS: Macroscopic characteristic namely wood color, figure, texture and grain orientation were observed following the method of Martawijaya et al. (1981) stated in Atlas Kayu Indonesia, while its microscopic namely vessel elements, axial and ray parenchyma as well as their fibers were observed by maceration and microtome specimens. Maceration was made following Forest Products Laboratory method, while microtome specimens were produced following Sass’ method (1961)