Ironwood, Tembusu
Fagraea fragrans

Family: Gentianaceae

What it is like

Fagraea fragrans or commonly known as Ironwood or Tembusu is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. The trunk is dark brown and deeply fissured. The leaves are oval and light green in colour. The flowers are yellowish with distinct fragrance. The fruits are bitter, red berries. Ironwood grows up to 25 m tall with a straight, cylindrical bole of up to 150 cm in diameter. It yields a high quality timber, and an excellent fuel and charcoal. When established, it is moderately tolerant to drought. Bark decoction is used as a febrifuge to treat conditions such as malaria. On the other hand, decoction of twigs and leaves is used for dysentery and severe diarrhoea. The skin of the fruits yields latex which can be used as an adhesive. The wood is used for posts and piles, bridges and ships, chopping blocks, furniture, cabinet work, etc.

Fagraea fragrans is an evergreen Tree growing to 25 m (82ft) by 20 m (65ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10 and is frost tender. The flowers are pollinated by Insects, Birds, Bats. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.

Height (m): 25

Where it is found

Light primary and secondary forest in humid or seasonally inundated locations, avoiding stagnant water. In freshwater-swamp forest, found in association with Melaleuca spp. Also occurs naturally as a pioneer in burnt-over areas and lalang grassland

E. Asia - India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Indo-China, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Burma, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Myanmar, SE Asia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

The root may be edible.

Medicine

Rating: 2

A decoction of the bark is used as a febrifuge to treat conditions such as malaria. A decoction of twigs and leaves is used to control dysentery and severe diarrhoea.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Malaria: Treats malaria - an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites spread to people through the bites of mosquitos.

Other

Rating: 4

Street tree, Public open space, Specimen in large garden, Bonsai. Agroforestry Uses: The tree is used for reforestation purposes, at least partly due to its ability to suppress the dense cover of weeds, including Imperata cylindrica and Gleichenia linearis. It is planted in some regions to control soil erosion. It occurs naturally as a pioneer in burnt-over areas and poor sites such as alang alang (Imperata cylindrica) grassland. Other Uses The latex found under the skin of the fruits is often used as an adhesive. The heartwood is light yellowish brown, the sapwood light yellow with an unpleasant smell. The wood is medium-weight, hard and very durable. This species is the main source of tembesu timber, considered to yield first-class turnery timber. The nailing properties are good. The wood can be peeled into a 1.5 mm thick veneer at a 90° peeling angle without pre-treatment with good results. This valuable and durable timber is used both as sawn wood as well as round wood for posts and piles in the construction of houses, bridges and ships, and for railway sleepers, posts for electric and telephone lines, barrels, chopping blocks, furniture, cabinetwork, door and windows sills and wood carvings. The wood yields a very high-quality fuel wood and charcoal.

Adhesive: Glues.

Charcoal: Used for fuel, drawing, deodorant, filter, fertilizer etc.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Latex: A source of rubber.

Pioneer: Plants, usually trees and shrubs, that can be used to reforest land.

Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Attracts Wildlife: Plants noted for attracting wildlife

Coppice: A traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.

Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent

How it is grown

A plant of the wet, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 400 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20° - 30°c, but can tolerate 10° - 36°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 1,000 - 4,000mm. Grows best in a sunny position. Thrives in well-drained to swampy, periodically inundated habitats, occasionally even on permanently inundated localities, often along rivers or creeks. It can succeed on poor or degraded soils so long as they are well-drained, and even in lalang (Imperata cylindrica) grasslands, where it suppresses this noxious grass. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6, tolerating 4.5 - 6.5. Established plants are moderately drought tolerant. Considered a useful plantation species, as it is adaptable and hardy. The corky bark gives it some resistance to fire - an 8-year-old plantation in Alang Alang grassland suffered no damage from a passing fire. The lower branches are very persistent and pruning these promotes height growth. Trees coppice freely; locally, trees may often be pollarded for poles. Large trees are frequently hollow.

Propagating it: Seed - it has quite a long viability. When sown fresh it has a viability of 65 - 80% and germinates in 15 - 60 days or more. The very fine seed should be mixed with fine sand and sown under light shade. It needs protection from ants. Watering should be done by spraying gently so as not to disturb the seed. The seedlings can be transplanted to open nursery beds or containers after 2 months, when 5 - 7 cm tall, and they can be planted out in the field when 30 - 45 cm high with adhering soil clump. The seed has an initial viability of 80%, which reduces to 65% after being stored for 3 months in air-tight containers. Seeds can be stored for 6 months, but they lose their viability very soon when kept inside the fruit. The fruit should be macerated by hand to extract the seeds, which should then be washed and dried. Allowing the seed to ripen for 1 month after collection is reported, but immediate sowing also gives good results. The whole berry can also be sown, but then seedlings do not appear until after 6 weeks. Root suckers are an easy method of propagation. Cuttings with several internodes taken from the branches of mature trees failed to root, but when taken from coppice shoots they rooted successfully.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist, wet

Things to keep in mind

Skin rashes may develop when handling green logs with bark on.

Its other names

Local names

Ananma, Buabua, Kan krao, Munpla, Tatrao, Temasuk, Tembesu, Trai, Urung,

Synonyms

Fagraea cochinchinensis A.Chev. Fagraea gigantea Ridl. Fagraea sororia J.J.Smith Fagraea wallichiana