Common Name:

General Information

Canarium pseudodecumanum is a large, buttressed tree that can grow up to 50 metres tall[]. The straight, cylindrical bole can be up to 165cm in diameter with large buttresses up to 6 metres high[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of wood and resin. The wood is a source of 'kedondong' timber and is commonly harvested from the wild and traded.
There is concern over the status of this species in Sabah. The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Malaysia, Indonesia.

Habitat

A canopy tree in damp or swampy lowland forest[]. An uncommon large tree found scattered in dense primary forest on undulating swamp land at elevations up to 280 metres[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Vulnerable
Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	30.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Seed[, ]. Rich in oil[].

An edible oil is obtained from the seed[, ].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

An abundant resin obtained from the tree is used locally for caulking canoes[, ].

The wood is very soft[].
The wood of most species in the genus Canarium is usually soft to moderately hard and probably not very durable in exposed positions. It is not, therefore of any great commercial value and is only used locally or not at all[].

This species is one of the sources of kedondong timber, which is obtained from several species in the family Burseraceae[]. We do not have a specific description of the wood for this species, but the general description of kedondong wood is as follows:-
The heartwood is generally a light brown; it is not sharply demarcated from the 3 - 5cm wide band of lighter-coloured sapwood. The texture is moderately fine and even; the grain is interlocked to wavy; the surface is lustrous. The wood is light in weight; moderately hard; not very durable, being susceptible to fungi, dry wood borers and termites. It seasons somewhat slowly with only a slight risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable to stable in service. The wood has a fairly high blunting effect, stellite-tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended; it is moderately easy to slightly difficult to plane; finishes smooth to rough; can be easy to very difficult to bore; slightly difficult to difficult to turn; nailing and screwing properties are good; gluing is correct. The wood is suitable for internal use as a general utility timber for planking, cladding, plywood, flooring, furniture, packing cases, pallets and general carpentry work[, ].

Propagation

Seed - we have no specific information for this species but seeds of this genus generally have a hard seed coat and germinate erratically. Filing away some of the seed coat to allow moisture to enter more readily, without damaging the seed, will encourage a faster and more even germination[].

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