Ramin: a commercial light hardwood

A LTHOUGH ABOUT five spe- f'lcies ol'ranrin are lbund in Peninsular Malaysia. the only species with econonric inrportance is Gon.vst.rlus bancanus. a light hardwood. Also known as nrelawis. it is conrmon in peat swanlps on the West coast fronr Perak to Johore.

The wood is creanry white and weathers to a pale straw shade. There is no color clifference between the sapwood and heartwood. When planed, the surface is not especially lustroLls and is without figure except for a small core which is streaked with alternating layers of blue and nrarble.

The texture of ranrin is nroderately fine and even. The grain is shallowly interlocked. Crowth rings are indistinct or absent while vessels are generally ntediunt in size and few or moderately few in nunrber. There are no tvloses or

Story at a Glance

Creamy white ramin is common in peat swamps of Peninsular Malaysia easy to treat with pre- servatives... handles readily in veneer. varied uses wath potentialfor plywood manufacture.

deposits. The wood parenchynra is exclusively paratracheal. Rays are fine and cannot be seen with the naked eye. A moderate anrount of cupping. bowing. and slight end splits may occur during seasoning. The timber

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