138 



colour and hardness are as good as in a freshly felled tree. A sam- 

 ple of wood obtained in Klang at a depth of 92 feet below the 

 surface, proved to be a portion of a Kumpass tree still retaining 

 its structure. 



The wood is hard and heavy red with rather coarse grain, the 

 rings distinct, the pores large arranged in groups surrounded by 

 lighter coloured tissue. 



In some respects it resembles Merabau, but is coarser and more 

 ornamental than that wood. Neglected as it is now, I believe that 

 it will eventually come into use again. Weight 47 lbs. 14 ozs ; 52 lbs. 

 14 ozs. 54 lbs. 



K. parvi 'flora Prain. Tualang or Sialang. 



Is more remarkable for its size than anything else. It attains a 

 height of over 100 feet, and I have seen in Province Wellesley 

 trees measuring 8 feet in diameter. 



DlALlUM. Kranji. 



There are several species of this valuable genus in the Peninsula, 

 but though formerly it appears that the Kranji trees were abun- 

 dant, they have been so sought for that it is quite rare now to find 

 the timber in the market at all. In the earlier days of Singapore 

 great quantities of this timber was felled, and shipped to China. 

 There are seven species recorded from the Peninsula, all are large 

 trees, and though the timber is not of equal value in all, yet all 

 may justly be considered in the first rank cf hard woods. The 

 flowers are very unlike those of most Leguminosae in appearance 

 dull coloured and small, in large panicles with no petals and only 

 two stamens. The fruit is a round black pod, usually velvety con- 

 taining a single hard seed enclosed in a sweet, pleasanlty flavored 

 white pithy endocarp, which is eaten by the natives for which pur- 

 pose the dried pods are often sold in the markets. The tree when 

 fruiting suffers much from the attacks of monkeys which destroy 

 often nearly the whole crop of fruit before it is ripe, and this and 

 the demand for fruit by the natives probably militates a good deal 

 against the re-afforestation of our jungles with this most valuable 

 timber. The trees are of slow growth like most hard wood trees. 

 The timber is very similar in all the species, dark brown, and heavy 

 and almost indestructible, the pores are usually rather large and 

 numerous, the rays very fine and close, the rings of growth often 

 obscure, but there are in most kinds close very fine rings as fine 

 as the rays making a kind of check pattern with them. 



Laslett (Timber and Timber trees p. 137) says that Red Kranji 

 of Borneo is exceedingly tough and one of the strongest woods we 

 are acquainted with taking a very heavy strain and breaking with 

 an unusually long fracture. One piece tested for tensile strength 

 proved equal to a strain of 10,920 lbs. on the square inch. What 

 species of Dialium, this was he does not say but several occur in 

 Borneo. 



