Agathis dammara description

Agathis dammara (Lamb.) Rich. & A. Rich. 1826

Common Names

Borneo kauri, Malayan kauri (English); bindang (Sarawak); kayu buloh, bulu (Iban); tolong (Brunei); mengilan, tambunan (Sabah); dammar, dammar daging, dammar minyak, tulong (Malaya); hedje (Tapanuli); salang (Kendayah); manggilam (Dusun); bangalan, bengalan (Sampit, Pilau); toga (W Kutai); bembuëng (SE Borneo); nuju (Dajak); enghatan (Sanggan); pisau, putut (Sintang) (1, 2, 4).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Pinus dammara Lamb. 1803; A. loranthifolia Salisb. 1807; Abies dammara (Lamb.) Poir. 1817; Dammara loranthifolia (Salisb.) Link 1822; Dammara orientalis Lamb. 1824; Abies sumatrana Desf. 1829; Dammara alba Rumph. ex Blume 1847 non Hask. 1842; Agathis beccarii Warb. 1900; Agathis borneensis Warb. 1900; A. macrostachys Warb. 1900; A. rhomboidalis Warb. 1900; A. alba Jeffrey 1906, nom. inval.; A. latifolia Meijer Drees 1940. The profusion of names reflects this species importance to the copal trade (see Ethnobotany section of Agathis); early botanists were apt to collect this economically important tree, and a plethora of names were assigned on what are now seen as minor variations in foliage characters.

Description

A tree 50-55 m or more tall, 1-2 m in girth, with rigid branches. Bark grey or black, finely dippled to thinly scaly (1). Juvenile leaves ovate-lanceolate, to 4 × 14 cm. Adult leaves ovate, dark green above, paler and non-glaucous beneath, with a more or less acute apex, 2-3.5 × 6-12 cm, margins recurved, tapering at the base to a 5 mm petiole. Branches often have relatively long and narrow leaves interspersed with the nominal 3 × 7 cm leaves. Resin ducts dorsoventrally paired in most vascular strands; the sole species of Agathis having this character. Pollen cones oblong, 2.5 × 4-7 cm, apex rounded, narrowing abruptly at the base to a 2-10 mm long peduncle; microsporophylls large, apex exposed, margin semicircular. Young female cone oval, upper edges of scales more or less spreading. Adult female cone ovoid, 5.5-6.5 × 6-8.5 cm; scales roughly triangular, well rounded in the upper corners. Seeds obovoid or oblong, 7-9 × 12-14 mm, blunt at one upper corner and a broadly rounded wing c. 16 × 20 mm at the other corner (1, 2).

Range

Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay peninsula below c. 10° N latitude. It occurs from low elevations to c. 1200 m in upland rainforest "and in dense, nearly pure stands on low-lying sandy peat soil in many parts of Borneo and in one area in Malaya." This ecological setting is very similar to that of Dacrydium pectinatum (4). In Sarawak (Borneo) "it is common on deep well-drained leached white podsolized sands near the coast ... where it is sometimes the most abundant species." However, it has been heavily logged in the area (2).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Attempts at plantation silviculture are reported by Smythies (2). At that time (1965), "logs are in great demand in Australia as peelers for plywood factories, and command high prices; supplies are limited and most of the available stands have been worked out in the past ten years."

Observations

Remarks

This species is listed as "VU A1cd" (vulnerable; population is declining) on the World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees database, which adds: "Agathis species are distinctive, highly sought and exploited for their valuable timber. Large stands of this species have been completely extracted throughout much of its range, most notably in Kalimantan. Exploitation continues to be heavy and regeneration in residual stands is insufficient to replace lost populations. In the past the tree has also been destructively exploited for copal. Plantations are now established."

Citations

(1) Silba 1986 [as A. borneensis].
(2) Smythies, B.E. 1965. Common Sarawak trees. Borneo Literature Bureau [as A. borneensis].
(3) Meijer-Dres. 1940. The genus Agathis in Malaysia. Bull. Bot. Gds. Buitenzorg, Series III, XVI, 455-474 (cited in (2)).
(4) de Laubenfels 1988 [as A. borneensis].