Aquilaria crassna

Aquilaria crassna ( Trầm hương in Vietnamese/ May Hom in Thai, which means wood - perfume) is an alive tropical tree in the forest substage of Tropical forests of Southeast Asia, always in a dispersed way and with generally the shelter of the Canopée. Its scientific name goes back only to 1914-1915, but it is the subject of an exploitation multiséculaire, in old the Cochinchine and with the Kampuchea.

This species is sometimes placed in the family of the Aquilariaceae . Nevertheless, majority of classifications, whose phylogenetic classification, place it among the Thymelaeaceae .

Les sheets green dark, is covered with a brilliant Cuticule waxy. The flowers are discrete (small and pale yellow)

The wood living of the Aquilaria crassna , like that of other species of this kind, with the propriétét to secrete a resin particular, very odorous, in reaction to certain physical aggressions (wounds, fire) or biological (attacks of xylophagous insects, bacteria and mushrooms). This resin is known as “Calambac”, “Gaharu,” “Bois of agar”, “wood of clay” , “wood of aloe” (or “ Bois of gélose ” for the scientists).
La powder or chips of the sick wood which produce this resin or the essential Huile that one car are very required by the traditional Médecine Asian and more and more for the industry of the Cosmétique S and papers and scented Encen S.

Other species of Aquilaria and all the species of Gyrinops so exploited for the calambac can be confused with the Aquilaria crassna . This is why trade of the calambac threat all these gasolines.

The Aquilaria were very overexploited since the years 1970 and in years 2000 regarded as are threatened of disappearance on the essence of their surface of distribution. however, only Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk., is registered with Appendix II of the QUOTE. In Thailand, and in particular in the national park of Khao Yai, the illegal exploitation of Aquilaria crassna is a serious problem. It is allotted to villagers who penetrate discreetly in the park to scrape the trunks of the trees that they exploit by leaving them upright. They do not take with each time blackened wood and return to regular intervals what condemns the tree to die. Other times, the trees are cut down and their collected wood after it is degraded. This second method would be the fact of Kampuchean poachers.

Des research on the DNA led by the national Herbier of the Netherlands should soon facilitate the identification of the trees and their crop products, which is in particular necessary for the banks of seeds which are constituted, but recognition DNA will remain a certain time expensive and/or not very accessible for the countries and areas where these trees push.

Habitat

Reproduction

The seeds are dispersed only with a few meters of the adult tree. Some could in nature being dispersed by not yet identified animals. More than 50% of seeds germinate in seedbed.

Threats

The aquilarias are confronted with a double threat of Déforestation and Surexploitation.

the trade of the by-products of this tree is pluriséculaire in of India and Southeast Asia, but it recently increased at the point to have made disappear the species from most of its normal surface of distribution, and into the theoretically protected zones (parks and natural reserves). This tree is the subject of an important trade illegal which returns the trade of the vulnerable wood of gélose in term of sustainable development

This is why the species, because of its commercial value, and perhaps medicamentous, was regarded as priority at the time of a workshop of work of FAO on the forest genetic resources of Southeast Asia for the forests of Laos, Kampuchea, Thailand and Vietnam where this species still present and is recently cultivated (Eduardo Massao NR. NAKASHIMA, May Thanh Thi NGUYEN, Quan the TRAN and Shigetoshi KADOTA: “Field survey off agarwood cultivation At Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam”. J. transl. Med., 22,296-300, 2005.). QUOTE also worries owing to the fact that whereas formerly one cut down only trees producing of the agar wood, i.e. infected by mushrooms and bacteria, aujourdh' ui one cuts also operational trees to sell powder wood or chips.

Projects of protection:

UICN and QUOTE it, at the request of Indonesia think of a protection of this gasoline by its inscription on list II of QUOTE, whereas 8 species of aquilarias are already on the red list of the species threatened of the UICN (+ 1 species in the " category; data insuffisantes"). The committee for the plants of QUOTE recommended an evaluation of all the species producing of the wood of gélose. The program Asia Pacific Forest Genetic Resources Programs (Apforgen) also regarded this species as priority, for Kampuchea in particular

Production of the calambac (or wood of agar, wood of gélose, gaharu, agarwood, aloaewood.)

There would exist at least a score of species of aquilarias producing calambac, but most invaluable famous is provided by Aquilaria crassna when it is infected by certain mushrooms and/or bacteria.

Plantations

Plantations of various species and subspecies of aquilarias (and Gyrinops versteegii ) are tested in particular in Indonesia, in Vietnam, and Kampuchea, with densities atteigant 1.000 feet per ha, exploited as of 4 to 7 years. The seed pushes easily, but according to QUOTE), the artificial mushroom inoculation by various types of caused wounds, aiming at causing the agar wood, gave only poor results. Cat Tiên, Trân Van Quyê, forester become grower of aquilaria in Vietnam, announce that the larva of a phytophagous insect ( Bù Xe in Vietnamese) while developing in trunk of the Aquilaria crassna is source of a calambac of a greater quality.

Trade and quantities:

The data are incomplete, in particular because of the illegality of part of the trade. But a calambac of quality was sold from 6.000 to 6.500 dollars the kilo and its gasoline scented from 7.000 to 7.500 dollars the liter about 2003.

The purchasers are especially Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, France and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates). Certain sources consider the needs world at 1.000 tons per annum (in 2007). Vietnam provides of them officially 80 tonnes/an to the maximum, but the wild tree is there in rapid and important decline since the years 1990. (Quan-Le-Tran; Which-Kim-Tran; Kouda-K; Nhan-Trung-Nguyen; Maruyama there; Saiki-I; Kadota-S. 2003. With survey one agarwood in Vietnam. Newspaper-off-Traditional-Medicines. 2003,20:3, 124-131.)

Medicinal virtues

One allots to the wood gélose various virtues, against the evils of belly, certain cardiovascular diseases, the Neuropathie S or against the nausea S and the Asthme. Its oil is considered to move away the insects. The Moslems scent readily their baths with this gasoline at the time of the Ramadan.

Close species

In addition to the other species of Aquilaria , all the trees of the kind Gyrinops can be confused with Aquilaria crassna , of which (nonexhaustive list);

Gyrinops audate (Gilg) Domke (New Guinea (Sidai, Arfak Mount), in low primary forest, to 5-20 m of altitude)
Gyrinops decipiens Ding Hou: that one finds in the center of Célèbes (Wavatoli, Palarahi), in the ombrophilous forest moyenenment low to 100 m of altitude.
Gyrinops ledermanii Domke: Geographical distribution: New Guinea (Sepik R., MT. Pfingst), on the slopes in the virgin forest, with the foot of the mountains, 0-200 m of altitude.
Gyrinops moluccana (Miq.) Baill.: Geographical distribution: Buru and Halmahera, in the ombrophilous forest.
Gyrinops podocarpus (Gilg.) Domke: Geographical distribution: Western New Guinea (Ramoi, Sorong, Monep, Idenburg), in the primary forest, of the plains up to 750 m of altitude.
Gyrinops salicifolia Ridl.: Geographical distribution: Western New Guinea (Utakwa, Nabire), with the fringes of the ombrophilous forest, 300 m of altitude.
Gyrinops versteegii (Gilg.) Domke, in the small islands of the Probe (Lombok, Sumbawa, Flora, Sumba); north of Celèbes (Minahasa) and Western New Guinea (Distribution dispersed in the plains and up to 900 m of altitude)

See too

Encens
threatened Espèce
QUOTE
essential Huile
Agrosylviculture

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