Common Name:

General Information

Balakata baccata is an evergreen tree with a dense crown; it can grow up to 26 metres tall. The bole is up to 60cm in diameter; it usually bends and twists, with many knobs and irregular buttresses up to 4 metres high[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a timber. It is planted as a wayside tree[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - China, Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.

Habitat

In both dense primary and disturbed Diptocarp forest; bamboo forest, secondary formations; mixed deciduous forest; and along streams and on hills and slopes; at elevations up to 1,800 metres[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	20.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Found in the wild growing on brown and yellow clay and loam, sandy loam, over limestone, granitic and volcanic bedrock[].
The flowers exude a sweet smell[].
Two types of inflorescences can be found: purely staminate ones, regularly branched with long branches (each usually 5--7 cm long); and bisexual ones, hardly branched and with shorter branches (each 2--3 cm long)[].
The trees do not flower annually, and fruit set is rare in the Malayan population[].

Edible Uses

The fruits are mealy and sweet - they are sometimes used for a flavouring[].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is planted as a pioneer species in northern Thailand in reforestation projects to restore native woodland - it is planted in degraded woodland and open areas in a mix with various other species that all have the ability to grow fast; produce dense, weed-suppressing crowns; and attract seed-dispersing wildlife, particularly birds and bats[].

Other Uses

Sapwood cream to white, soft, with a sour to sweet smell[]. It is not very durable. The wood is used as timber[].

Propagation

Seed -

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