Elaeocarpus griffithii explained

Elaeocarpus griffithii is a tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae. It is found in parts of Island and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is used in construction, as firewood and in dyeing.

Description

It has smooth bark,[1] and grows 10-25m tall in dense and flooded forests.[2]

Distribution

The tree is found in Borneo, Sumatera, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

Habitat

The tree occurs in ombrotrophic (rain-fed) coastal peat swamp forest in Kubu Raya Regency, and in the ombrotrophic peatland forest of Berasap and Tulak in the Ketapang Regency, of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.[1] [3] In the southernmost province of Thailand, Narathiwat, within the To Daeng peat swamp forest, Elaeocarpus griffithii is found among the primary forest, but not the secondary formations.[4] The species grows in choams (Khmer, permanently inundated evergreen swamp forests) of northern Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, occurring in both seasonally and permanently inundated areas.[5] The species is one of the most common species of tree in the wetland swamp forests of the Mekong floodplain of southern Vietnam, along with Barringtonia acutangula, Diospyros cambodiana, Elaeocarpus hygrophilus, Hydnocarpus castaneus, and Mallotus plicatus.[6]

Ecology

While investigating the effects of forest degradation (clearfelling and other old-growth forest reduction) on the peatland forest of Berasap and Tulak in the Ketapang Regency of West Kalimantan, Astiani[3] showed increasingly reduced density of Elaeocarpus griffithii as degradation increased. In another study[1] looking at waterflow from trees to the soil, conducted in coastal peat swamp forest of Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan, Elaeocarpus griffithii was found to have high stemflow down to the soil. This is consistent with other smooth-barked taxa, as opposed to coarse- and mid-barked taxa.

Vernacular names

The plant is named in various ways in a number of languages: mempening (Kabu Raya Regency, Kalimantan),[1] luët chum,[2] rumdé:nh phluk, chorm nhi[5] (Khmer); côm tầng, côm griffith (Vietnamese)[7]

Uses

The wood is used in construction and as firewood in Cambodia,[2] and in construction as well as a source of tannin for dyeing in Vietnam.[8]

History

The species was first described by the eminent US botanist Asa Gray in his 1854 publication within the official report of the Wilkes Expedition (1838–42) of the Pacific and surrounding lands.

Further reading

Additional information on this plant can be found in the following:[7]

Notes and References

  1. ASTIANI . DWI . MUJIMAN . CURRAN . LISA M. . Trees of tropical peatland forest influence on variability of water and carbon input through stemflow . Biodiversitas . 2017 . 18 . 1, January . 383–388 . 10.13057/biodiv/d180150 . 6 January 2021. free .
  2. Book: Pauline Dy Phon . Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge . 2000 . Imprimerie Olympic . Phnom Penh . 14, 15 . Pauline Dy Phon .
  3. ASTIANI . DWI . Tropical peatland tree-species diversity altered by forest degradation . Biodiversitas . 2016 . 17 . 1,April . 102–109 . 10.13057/biodiv/d170115 . 6 January 2021. free .
  4. YANBUABAN . Monrawee . four other authors. Nutritional ecology of plants grown in a tropical peat swamp . Tropics . 2007 . 16 . 1 . 31–9 . 10.3759/tropics.16.31 . 6 January 2021. free .
  5. Theilade . Ida . Schmidt . Lars . Chhang . Phourin . McDonald . J. Andrew . Evergreen swamp forest in Cambodia: floristic composition, ecological characteristics, and conservation status . Nordic Journal of Botany . 2011 . 29 . 71–80 . 10.1111/j.1756-1051.2010.01003.x . 6 January 2021.
  6. Zhen Li . and nine others . Mid-Holocene mangrove succession and its response to sea-level change in the upper Mekong River delta, Cambodia . Quaternary Research . 2012 . 78 . 2 . 386–399 . 10.1016/j.yqres.2012.07.001 . 2012QuRes..78..386L . 129079890 . 6 January 2021.
  7. Web site: Côm tầng . Wikipedia tiếng Việt . Wikipedia . 6 January 2021.
  8. Tran . Do Van . Osawa . Akira . Nguyen . Thang Toan . Recovery of Vegetation Structure and Species Diversity after Shifting Cultivation in Northwestern Vietnam, with Special Reference to Commercially Valuable Tree Species . International Scholarly Research Notices . 2011 . 2011 . 751472 . 1–12 . 10.5402/2011/751472 . free .

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