Gutta-percha tree

Gutta-percha tree
	Gutta-percha tree ( Palaquium gutta )
Systematics
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
	Asterids
Order :	Heather-like (Ericales)
Family :	Sapot family (Sapotaceae)
Genre :	Gutta-percha trees ( Palaquium )
Type :	Gutta-percha tree
Scientific name
	Palaquium gutta
	( Hook.f. ) Baill.

The gutta-percha tree ( Palaquium gutta ) is a type of plant from the genus of the gutta-percha trees ( Palaquium ) in the family of the sapotaceae . This tree is known for its dried milky sap , the gutta-percha ( Malay : getah "rubber", percha "tree") which is also obtained from other gutta-percha trees and sapoteic plants ( Payena spec. And Palaquium spec. And others).

The rubber elm ( Eucommia ulmoides ) is known as the Chinese gutta-percha tree .

description

Historical photo with the buttress roots

Vegetative characteristics

The gutta-percha tree is a medium-sized, evergreen tree that reaches heights of growth of 20 to 25 meters or more (up to 45 meters) and a trunk diameter of 60 to 120 centimeters. He forms buttress roots . The brownish bark is slightly grooved. The light wood is fibrous, spongy, soft and brightly colored with black, milky corridors (lacticifers). The milky sap is gray, sometimes with a pinkish tint.

The counter or alternate and spirally arranged at the branch ends leaves are divided into petiole and -spreite. The simple, entire, leathery leaf blade is ovate to ovate or obovate to lanceolate or elliptical with a pointed, pointed to tapered or rounded to blunt upper end with a length of 12 to 20 centimeters. The petiole is up to 6 inches long. The leaves are glabrous and shiny dark green on the upper side and golden brown and more or less velvety hairy on the underside. The veins are pinnate and the central vein is slightly indented on the upper side and raised and orange-brownish on the underside. The small stipules fall off early.

Generative characteristics

The short-stalked flowers are in about two to eight-fold groups, clusters in the leaf axils.

The white-pale green to yellowish-greenish flowers are six-fold and hermaphrodite. The brownish and finely hairy calyx is two to three rows with triangular tips. There are 10 to 20 or more stamens with thick stamens and arrow-shaped anthers, which are attached to the throat of the short corolla tube. The sweeping crown lobes are egg-shaped. The upper, conical and hairy ovary is multi-chambered (five to ten chambered). The long stylus towers over the stamens.

The brownish berries are round to egg-shaped with a length of about 2.5 centimeters and usually contain one to three seeds. The brown, glossy and hard seeds are also known as "Sia nuts".

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

distribution

The natural range of Palaquium gutta includes the Malay Peninsula as well as the Indonesian islands Sumatra , Java and Borneo .

use

The gutta-percha tree is the most important species from the genus of gutta-percha trees for the production of gutta-percha, which is made from the dried milk juice. This is used, among other things, in dentistry and was previously used for cable insulation . The fruits are used as food in Malaysia due to their high oil content. Fat can be obtained from the seeds (njatu (o) tallow).

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f William Theodore Brannt: India Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Balata: Occurrence, Geographical, and Balata . BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008, ISBN 978-0-559-72274-5 , pp. 228 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hsuan Keng, Ro-Siu Ling Keng Keng: The concise flora of Singapore: gymnosperms and dicotyledons . NUS Press, 1990, ISBN 978-9971-69-135-6 , pp. 134-135 .
↑ Ernst Gilg , Karl Schumann : The plant kingdom: House treasure of knowledge. J. Neumann, 1900, p. 728, online at biolib.de, accessed on May 4, 2018.
↑ Bernard W. Minifie: Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionery. Third Edition, Aspen Pub., 1999, ISBN 0-8342-1301-X , p. 107.
^ ^A ^b Palaquium gutta in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.

Web links

Commons : Gutta-percha tree ( Palaquium gutta ) - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Palaquium gutta from Useful Tropical Plants, accessed on May 4, 2018.
Palaquium gutta at PROSEA.

[Brannt2008-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f William Theodore Brannt: India Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Balata: Occurrence, Geographical, and Balata . BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008, ISBN 978-0-559-72274-5 , pp. 228 .

[Keng1990-2] Hsuan Keng, Ro-Siu Ling Keng Keng: The concise flora of Singapore: gymnosperms and dicotyledons . NUS Press, 1990, ISBN 978-9971-69-135-6 , pp. 134-135 .

[Gilg1900-3] Ernst Gilg , Karl Schumann : The plant kingdom: House treasure of knowledge. J. Neumann, 1900, p. 728, online at biolib.de, accessed on May 4, 2018.

[Minifie1999-4] Bernard W. Minifie: Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionery. Third Edition, Aspen Pub., 1999, ISBN 0-8342-1301-X , p. 107.

[GRIN-5] A ^b Palaquium gutta in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.