deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

hairy Hairy may refer to: * people or animals covered in hairs or fur * plants covered in trichomes * insects covered in setae * people nicknamed "the Hairy" * Hairy (gene) The hairy localisation element (HLE) is an RNA element found in the 3' UTR of ...

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name *Corolla (headgear) A ''corolla'' is an ancient headdress in the form of a small circlet or crown. Flowers are weakly

protandrous Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

in that the anthers precede the stigma in maturity and pollen is shed within a few hours of the flower opening.Tangmitcharoen, S. and J. N. Owens. 1996
Floral biology, pollination, pistil receptivity, and pollen tube growth of teak (''Tectona grandis'' Linn f.).
''Annals of Botany'', 79(3): 227–241. The flowers are primarily entomophilous (insect pollinated), but can occasionally be anemophilous (wind pollinated).Bryndum, K. and T. Hedegart. 1969. Pollination of teak (''Tectona grandis'' Linn.f.). ''Silv. Genet.'' 18: 77–80. A 1996 study found that in its native range in Thailand, the major pollinator were species in the bee genus '' Ceratina''.

Wood

* Heartwood is golden-brown. It darkens as it ages. There can be a large variation based on which region the Teak is from. Old growth has much tighter rings than new growth. There is a leather-like scent in newly cut wood. * Sapwood is whitish to pale yellowish brown. It can be easily separated from heartwood. * Wood texture is hard and ring porous. * Density varies according to moisture content: at 15% moisture content it is 660 kg/m.

Botanical history

''Tectona grandis'' was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in his 1782 work ''

Supplementum Plantarum ', commonly abbreviated to ' or just ', and further abbreviated by botanists to ''Suppl. Pl.'', is a 1782 book by Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Written entirely in Latin, it was intended as a supplement to the 1737 ' and the 1753 ', both written b ...

''. In 1975, Harold Norman Moldenke published new descriptions of four forms of this species in the journal '' Phytologia''. Moldenke described each form as varying slightly from the type specimen: ''T. grandis'' f. ''canescens'' is distinguished from the type material by being densely canescent, or covered in hairs, on the underside of the leaf, ''T. grandis'' f. ''pilosula'' is distinct from the type material in the varying morphology of the leaf veins, ''T. grandis'' f. ''punctata'' is only hairy on the larger veins on the underside of the leaf, and ''T. grandis'' f. ''tomentella'' is noted for its dense yellowish tomentose hairs on the lower surface of the leaf.Moldenke, H. N. 1975
Notes on new and noteworthy plants. LXXVII.
''Phytologia'', 31: 28.

Etymology

The English word ''teak'' comes via the Portuguese from

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

(cognate with

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

,

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

, and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

) via

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

''"shaka"'' and ''"saka"''. Central Province teak and Nagpur teak are named for those regions of India.

Distribution and habitat

''Tectona grandis'' is one of three species in the genus ''Tectona''. The other two species, '' T. hamiltoniana'' and '' T. philippinensis'', are

endemics Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

with relatively small native distributions in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, respectively.Tewari, D. N. 1992. ''A Monograph on Teak (''Tectona grandis'' Linn.f.)''. International Book Distributors. ''Tectona grandis'' is native to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, northern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and northwestern

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

. ''Tectona grandis'' is found in a variety of habitats and climatic conditions from arid areas with only 500 mm of rain per year to very moist forests with up to 5,000 mm of rain per year. Typically, though, the annual rainfall in areas where teak grows averages 1,250–1,650 mm with a 3–5 month dry season.Kaosa-ard, A. 1981. Teak its natural distribution and related factors. ''Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society'', 29: 55–74.

Cultivation

Teak's natural oils make it useful in exposed locations, and make the timber termite- and pest-resistant. Teak is durable even when not treated with oil or varnish. Timber cut from old teak trees was once believed to be more durable and harder than plantation-grown teak. Studies have shown that plantation teak performs on par with old-growth teak in erosion rate, dimensional stability, warping, and surface checking, but is more susceptible to colour change from UV exposure. The vast majority of commercially harvested teak is grown on teak plantations found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

and controlled by Perum Perhutani (a state owned forest enterprise) that manages the country's forests. The primary use of teak harvested in Indonesia is in the production of outdoor teak furniture for export. Nilambur in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, India, is also a major producer of teak, and is home to the world's oldest teak plantation. Teak consumption raises a number of environmental concerns, such as the disappearance of rare old-growth teak. However, its popularity has led to growth in sustainable plantation teak production throughout the seasonally dry tropics in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

s. The

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market ...

offers certification of sustainably grown and harvested teak products. Propagation of teak via tissue culture for plantation purposes is commercially viable. Teak plantations were widely established in Equatorial Africa during the Colonial era. These timber resources, as well as the oil reserves, are at the heart of the current (2014)

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of th ...

ese conflict. Much of the world's teak is exported by

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. There is also a rapidly growing plantation grown market in Central America ( Costa Rica) and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. With a depletion of remaining natural hectares of teak forests, a growth in plantations in Latin America is expected to rise. ''

Hyblaea puera ''Hyblaea puera'', the teak defoliator, is a moth and cryptic species complex native to South Asia and South-east Asia. It was Species description, first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. The species has also been recently reported to be present ...

'', commonly known as the teak defoliator, is a moth native to southeast Asia. It is a teak pest whose caterpillar feeds on teak and other species of trees common in the region of southeast Asia.

Uses

Teak's high oil content, high tensile strength and tight grain make it particularly suitable where weather resistance is desired. It is used in the manufacture of outdoor furniture and boat decks. It is also used for cutting boards, indoor

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...

, countertops and as a veneer for indoor finishings. Although easily worked, it can cause severe blunting on edged tools because of the presence of silica in the wood. Over time teak can weather to a silvery-grey finish, especially when exposed to sunlight. Teak is used extensively in India to make doors and window frames, furniture, and columns and beams in homes. It is resistant to

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

attacks and damage caused by other

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s. Mature teak fetches a very good price. It is grown extensively by forest departments of different states in forest areas. Leaves of the teak wood tree are used in making Pellakai gatti (

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family ( Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

dumpling), where batter is poured into a teak leaf and is steamed. This type of usage is found in the coastal district of Udupi in the Tulunadu region in South

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The leaves are also used in

gudeg Gudeg is a traditional Javanese dish from Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia. Gudeg is made from young unripe jack fruit ( Javanese: ''gori'', Indonesian: '' nangka muda'') stewed for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk. Addi ...

, a dish of young jackfruit made in Central Java,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, and give the dish its dark brown colour. Teak is used as a food plant by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of moths of the genus '' Endoclita'' including '' E. aroura'', '' E. chalybeatus'', '' E. damor'', '' E. gmelina'', '' E. malabaricus'', '' E. sericeus'' and '' E. signifer'' and other Lepidoptera including the turnip moth. File:Fauteuil de jardin en teck (brut et huilé).JPG, Teak garden armchairs File:McIntosh Teak Fold-Over Top with Nest of Tables.jpg, Teak

AH McIntosh This is AH wikipédia. AH wikipédia is very very cool but I'm very very cool :D This is funny description: https://www.google.com/search?q=funny&rlz=1C1GCEA_enHU983HU985&sxsrf=APq-WBumF4a0GcwAqKN6s0iYOgPUBiyt6w:1648737749922&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s ...

nested tables

Boatbuilding

Teak has been used as a

boat-building Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires. Construction materials and methods Wood W ...

material for over 2000 years (it was found in an archaeological dig in Berenice Panchrysos, a port on the Indian Roman trade route). In addition to relatively high strength, teak is also highly resistant to rot, fungi and mildew. The wood has a relatively low shrinkage ratio, which makes it excellent for applications where it undergoes periodic changes in moisture. Teak has the unusual property of being both an excellent structural timber for framing or planking, while at the same time being easily worked and finished, unlike some otherwise similar woods such as

purpleheart ''Peltogyne'', commonly known as purpleheart, violet wood, amaranth and other local names (often referencing the colour of the wood) is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae; native to tropical rainforests of Central ...

. For this reason, it is also prized for the trim work on boat interiors. Due to the oily nature of the wood, care must be taken to properly prepare the wood before gluing. When used on boats, teak is also very flexible in the finishes that may be applied. One option is to use no finish at all, in which case the wood will naturally weather to a pleasing silver grey. The wood may also be oiled with a finishing agent such as linseed or tung oil. This results in a pleasant, somewhat dull finish. Finally, teak may also be varnished for a deep, lustrous glow. Teak is also used extensively in boat decks, as it is extremely durable and requires very little maintenance. The teak tends to wear in to the softer 'summer' growth bands first, forming a natural 'non-slip' surface. Any sanding is therefore only damaging. Use of modern cleaning compounds, oils or preservatives will shorten the life of the teak, as it contains natural teak oil a very small distance below the white surface. Wooden boat experts will only wash the teak with salt water, and re- caulk when needed. This cleans the deck, and prevents it from drying out and the wood shrinking. The salt helps it absorb and retain moisture, and prevents any mildew and algal growth. Over-maintenance, such as cleaning teak with harsh chemicals, can shorten its usable lifespan as decking.

Propagation

Tree in new leaves (Tectona grandis) I IMG 8133

Teak is propagated mainly from seeds. Germination of the seeds involves pretreatment to remove dormancy arising from the thick pericarp. Pretreatment involves alternate wetting and drying of the seed. The seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and then spread to dry in the sun for 12 hours. This is repeated for 10–14 days and then the seeds are sown in shallow germination beds of coarse peat covered by sand. The seeds then germinate after 15 to 30 days. Clonal propagation of teak has been successfully done through grafting, rooted stem cuttings and micro propagation. While bud grafting on to seedling root stock has been the method used for establishing clonal seed orchards that enables assemblage of clones of the superior trees to encourage crossing, rooted stem cuttings and micro propagated plants are being increasingly used around the world for raising clonal plantations.

World's largest living teak tree

Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (Myanmar) found the world's two biggest living teak trees on 28 August 2017 in

Homalin Township Homalin Township ( my, ဟုမ္မလင်း မြို့နယ် ) is a township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of Burma. The principal town is Homalin.

, Sagaing Region,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The biggest one, named Homemalynn 1, is in girth and tall. The second biggest one, named Homemalynn 2, is in girth. Previously, the world's biggest recorded teak tree was located within the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary in the Palakkad District of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

in India, named Kannimara. The tree is approximately tall. Its age is between 450–500 years and is considered one of the oldest teak trees in the world. In 2017, a tree was discovered in the Ottakallan area of the Thundathil range of the Malayattoor Forest Division in Kerala with a girth of and height of . A teak tree in Kappayam, Edamalayar, Kerala, which used to be considered the biggest, has a girth of only 7.23 meters. Tree No 23 is the oldest planted teak on earth. It is located in Conolly's plot (the world’s oldest teak plantation), Nilambur, Kerala.

References

External links

* *U.S. Forest Products Lab
USDA Forest Service
{{Taxonbar, from=Q156938 Teak Plants described in 1782 Tectona grandis Tectona grandis Tectona grandis Tectona grandis Wood Forestry in Indonesia Forestry in Myanmar Plant dyes

Description

Wood

Botanical history

Etymology

Distribution and habitat

Cultivation

Uses

Boatbuilding

Propagation

World's largest living teak tree

References

External links