Standard Name
Malaysian Oak (Rubberwood)

Category
Light Hardwood

Botanical Name
Hevea brasiliensis

Family
Euphorbiaceae

Distribution
Grown throughout the country on undulating lowlands.

General Description
Sapwood is not differentiated from the heartwood, which is pale cream in colour, often with a pink tinge.

Grain is straight to shallowly interlocked.

Texture is moderately coarse but even.

Vessels are moderately large to large and have simple perforations, moderately sparse, a few solitary with the majority in radial pairs or multiples of up to 4, occasionally radial multiples of 5 to 8 may be found and clustering of pores is fairly common; distributed without any arrangement. Tyloses are abundant.

Wood parenchyma of the apotracheal type is abundant and visible to the naked eye; appears as narrow and closely but irregularly spaced bands, forming a net-like pattern with the rays. Paratracheal type occurs as narrow borders to the vessels.

Rays are moderately fine and visible to the naked eye, but are not prominent on the radial surface.

Treatability        Easy

Uses

A popular timber for the manufacturing of furniture; also suitable for panelling, parquet flooring, staircases, utility articles and blockboard cores.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES