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Nomenclature etc. VERBENACEAE. Trade and local names: teak (DE, GB, NL, NG), Indien-, Burma-, Java-, Laos-, Thailand-, Rangoon-Teak (DE), teck (FR, IT), kyun (MM), gia thi (VN), tadi, tek, sagwan (IN), djati (ID, MY), kembal, semarang (ID), may sak (LA, KH, TH), jat, sak (TH), djatti (GH), teca (ES). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Tree. Geographic distribution: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, tropical Africa, Mexico and Central America, tropical South America (cult.).
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct. Heartwood basically brown to yellow (golden brown); with streaks. Sapwood colour distinct from heartwood colour. Odour distinct. Density 0.44–0.63–0.82 g/cm³. Greasy surface.
Vessels. Wood ring porous or semi ring porous. Ring of earlywood vessels uniseriate. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Average tangential vessel diameter 50–270 µm (50–100 µm in latewood, 140–270 µm in earlywood). Average number of vessels/mm² 4–6–9. Ring of earlywood vessels almost always uniseriate. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 5–6 µm, pits vestured. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Tyloses present, thinwalled.
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids commonly present (only in latewood). Fibres of medium wall thickness. Average fibre length 700–1400 µm. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres exclusively septate, or septate and non-septate; evenly distributed. Fibres with light coloured to translucent contents in form of small droplets.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma banded (bands may completely include earlywood vessels). Bands marginal (or seemingly marginal). Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty and vasicentric. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 3–4.
Rays. Rays 5–7 per tangential mm, multiseriate, (2–)3–4(–5) cells wide. Height of large rays commonly 500 to 1000 µm. Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular); homocellular ray cells procumbent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals not observed. Silica present, as vitreous silica; in vessels (scaly lining of inner vessel walls including tyloses).
Illustrations. • Macroscopic images. transverse (ca. 10x). radial (natural size). • Transverse section. wood semi-ringporous (fast-grown tree from plantations - left) or ringporous (slow-grown tree from natural forest - right). • Tangential section. ray size variable in different specimens. • Radial section. • Septate fibres. • Vitreous silica. vitreous silica lining the inner walls of tyloses in vessels: transverse section (left), radial section (right). • Vitreous silica. vitreous silica blocks filling cell lumina (latewood vessels, axial parenchyma, fibres) : transverse section (left), tangential section (right).
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2000 onwards. Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Version: 9th April 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
