Identification and utilization of lesser-known commercial timbers in Peninsular Malaysia 6: Bungor, Chenderai, Dungun Paya and Gelam

This article looks at four more lesser-known commercial timbers (LKCT) i.e. bungor (Lagerstroemia spp.), chenderai (Grewia and Microcos spp.), dungun paya (Engelhardtia spp.) and gelam (Melaleuca cajuputi). Bungor is a medium-weight timber. The tree ranges from medium to large-sized tree but it may not have a good-formed stem. The advantage of using bungor is that it is one of the few trees in the country to possess ring porous feature i.e. with fairly prominent growth rings feature which makes the flat-sawn surface very attractive. Chenderai is made up of the species of genera Grewia and Microcos of the family Tiliaceae. The timber is medium to heavy in density. The trees are small to medium with usually straight bole. Like the timber of melunak of the same family, the timber is rather featureless. Uses of the timber are confined to some general utility purposes only. Dungun paya is a medium to large tree with large and steep buttresses (up to 3 m tall). The timber is light to medium in weight but generally light. The presence of not so distinct banded parenchyma provides a very vague growth ring figure on the flat-sawn surface. Gelam is a monospecific timber, which occurs in swamp forest behind sea beaches and mangrove. The trees are often crooked with poor-formed stems but some trees may produce fairly clear and tall boles. The diameter is seldom large. The timber is medium in density and rather featureless.