TEAK. 7 
SAPPAN. 
MAI FANG.—(Sappan tree, Caesalprnia Sappan/. 
is a tree of the natural order Caesalpinieae, a small tree 
9-12 m. high or a straggling shrub. 
Calyx base permanent, border five-parted and 
deciduous, corol irregular five petalled, the upper one 
smaller. Filaments woolly. Anthers all ten fertile and 
open on their sides. Leaves bipinnate, pinnae from ten 
to twelve pair, leaflets from 10-12 pair, somewhat 
dolabriform. Panicles terminal. Legumes  ligneous 
sub-trapeziform from 8-4 seeded. The wood is 
hard and of a light red colour, the young trees 
newly split of yellowish brown colour, will however 
tinge saliva quite red when chewn. Pores are small and 
the medullary rays are fine, wavy and very numerous. 
Sappan trees grow near Ratburi, they may be met wild in 
the Shan States. 
In former times when colours were not manufac- 
tured by chemical means, this wood was used to obtain 
colours for dyeing and printing cloth and also to make 
red ink, varnish, etc. Sappan wood contains a substance 
