Common Name:

General Information

Protium serratum is an evergreen or briefly deciduous tree with a large, spreading crown; it can grow up to 30 metres tall. The bole is short[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of wood.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - southern China, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam.

Habitat

Montane sparse or dense woods; at elevations from 600 - 1,000 metres[]. Forests, usuallu along the sides of streams[]. Moist evergreen and deciduous forests in Thailand[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	25.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Most, if not all, species in this genus are dioecious, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit[]. The flesh is juicy[]. The dark red to black, globose fruit is 6 - 20mm in diameter, containing 1 - 3 seeds[].

Medicinal

The fruits are used in the treatment of mouth ulcers[].

Other Uses

We have no specific information for this species, but many members of this genus are valued for the whitish and fragrant resin (suggesting incense) that exudes freely from the bark, and which hardens upon exposure to the air[].

The heartwood is red; the sapwood is light brown. The wood is close-grained, hard. A useful wood, good for making furniture, and also used for house posts, boards etc[, ].
We have no more information on the wood of this species, but a general description of the wood for tropical American members of this genus is as follows:-
The heartwood is brown or reddish-brown, sometimes with irregularly spaced darker brown lines; it is not always sharply demarcated from the pale buff to pinkish sapwood. The texture varies from rather fine to fairly coarse; grain straight to very irregular and interlocked; lustre is rather high; dry specimens are without any distinctive odour or taste. Silica is reported for some species. The wood is generally reported to have a low resistance to attack by decay fungi and is vulnerable to dry-wood termites; it has no appreciable resistance to marine borers. Reports on seasoning vary from fairly easy to air dry to moderately difficult. Logs should be debarked prior to sawing to avoid resin accumulation
on cutters and equipment. The dry wood works easily and rates fair to good in all operations; it cuts easily into veneers but tends to buckle on drying; some species are abrasive because of the silica content. The wood is used for purposes such as furniture, millwork, veneer and plywood, general construction, particleboard; it is a possible substitute for birch[].

Propagation

Seed -

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