MEMPENING (Lithocarpus celebicus)
Trade Name
Mempening
Scientific Name
Lithocarpus celebicus (Miq.) Rehder
Family
FAGACEAE
Common Names
S[ox]I (Vietnam); Ko muu (Thailand); Ko (Thailand); New Guinea oak (Papua New Guinea); Ulaian (Philippines); Pasang (Indonesia); Oak (Philippines)
Scientific Name Synonyms
Lithocarpus llanosii
Description Of The Tree
Botanical Description
A medium-sized tree up to 33 m tall, bole up to 100 cm in diameter, with buttresses up to 1m high, bark surface fissured to scaly, /grey-brown.
Natural Habitat
L. celebicus is locally common in lowland and lower montane forest, on clayey soils, up to 800(-1200)m altitude.
Natural Distribution
Ulaian is a medium density, strong and moderately durable timber which makes is suitable for general house construction, furniture and cabinets. It can also be used for sliced veneer, pulpwood and sticks.
Wood Identification
Anatomic Description Of Wood
Wood diffuse porous. Occasionally vessels in diagonal and/or radial pattern. Vessels per mm2 6 to 10 (medium). Vessels exclusively solitary (over 90%). Tangential diameter of vessel lumina 100 to 200 micras. Simple perforation plates. Non-vestu Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and/or diffuse in aggregates. Axial parenchyma in discontinuous tangential lines. Axial parenchyma in narrow bands on lines up to 3 cells wide. Occasionally 5 to 8 cells per parenchyma strand. Prismatic crystals Rays of two distinct sizes. 4 to 10 rays per mm (medium). Homogeneous rays and/or sub-homogeneous rays (all ray cells procumbent). Occasionally larger rays more than 4 seriate. Occasionally larger rays width 0. 1 mm or more and 2 mm or more in hei Non-septate fibers. Fibers very thick walled. Fibers with distinctly bordered pits.
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Wood Macro Photo Tangential Plane
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Wood Micro Photo Of Transversal Section
Availability
Cites Status
Unrestricted
General Wood Description
Color
The heartwood is greyish-brown to brown or brown-red to pinkish-brown, sometimes with yellow tinge, the sapwood is brown or pale brown to straw-colored.
Grain
Straight to slightly wavy, sometimes interlocked.
Texture
Texture is slightly coarse to coarse and uneven.
Natural Durability
Lithocaropus is rated as moderately double; stake tests show an average service life in contact with the ground of 3.7 years under tropical conditions.
Resistance To Impregnation
sapwood is moderately, heartwood is resistant to impregnation.
Wood Physical Properties
Basic Density or Specific Gravity (O.D. weight/vol. green) (g/cm³)
0.61
Air-dry Density (Weight and volume at 12%MC) (g/cm³)
0.68
Total shrinkage Tangential (Saturated to 0%MC) (%)
11.1
Total shrinkage Radial (Saturated to 0%MC) (%)
4.1
Drying Defects
Ease of Drying: Sa is prone to end splitting and the application of end seals is recommended,especially for the thicker sizes.Backsawn stock is susceptable to severe surface checking. Quartersawn material dried quite satisfactrily. Preliminary air drying under cover to 2
Dimensional stability ratio (Total Tangential Shrinkage %/Total Radial Shrinkage %)
2.7
Wood Chemical Properties
Wood Mechanical Properties
Bending Strength (MOR),12%MC (kgf/cm²)
830
Stiffness (MOE) 12%MC (kgf/cm²)
91700
Compression parallel to fiber 12%MC (kgf/cm²)
461
Compression perpendicular to fiber 12%MC (kgf/cm²)
71
Janka hardness (side) 12%MC (kgf)
46
Janka hardness (end grain) 12%MC (kgf)
49
Workability
Machining
Good machining property, Class 2
Finishing
Good
Steam Bending
fair
REFERENCED USES
End Uses Summary
HOUSING GENERAL, beams, parquet, frames, FURNITURE AND CABINETS, TOOLS, tool handles, agricultural tools, CONTAINERS
General Housing
- 10 - Silica in Timbers
Beams
- 11 - Prospect: The wood database
Parquet
- 15 - Empire Timbers
Frames
- 16 - Woods of the World
Furniture Cabinets
- 21 - Tropical timbers of the world. Part III-Southeast Asian and Oceanian Species.
Tools
- 42 - Utilización Industrial de Nuevas Especies Forestales en el Perú.
Tool Handles
- 43 - Maderas de Bolivia (Características y Usos de 55 Maderas Tropicales)
Agricultural Tools
- 44 - Atlas of Peruvian Woods
Containers
- 50 - Properties of imported tropical woods
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