Blue-tailed Bee-eater - Berek Berek Sawah/Ekor Biru (Malay)

Bee-eaters get their names from their diet of stinging insects (bees, wasps, hornets, ants). They specialise in catching and neutralising these titbits that other birds find unappetising or dangerous. But Bee-Eaters also catch and eat other harmless insects especially dragonflies, and also grasshoppers, butterflies. In Sungei Buloh, they also catch small fish.

Bee-eaters catch their prey on the wing. They look out for suitable prey from a tree branch or high wire (about 7m and above) then swoop down onto it. They snap up their victims with an audible click, their long, narrow bills keeping these dangerous prey a good distance away from the eyes. To get rid of the sting, the insect is vigorously whacked against the perch. Or simply squeezed to get rid of the venom.

Blue-tailed Bee-eaters usually forage in open habitats near freshwater as well as coasts. Blue-tailed Bee-eaters roost together and a roost may include huge numbers (roosts of hundreds have been observed). They prefer to roost in tall trees inland, as well as in mangroves.

Alstonia scholaris (Pokok Pulai)

Current name: Alstonia scholarisTaxonomy

Authority: R. Br.

Family: Apocynaceae

Synonym(s)

Echites pala Buch-Ham. ex Spreng.

Echites scholaris L.

Pala scholaris (L.) Roberty

Tabernaemontana alternifolia Roxb.

Common names

(Bengali) : chattin
(Burmese) : lettok
(English) : birrba, black board tree, dita bark, milk wood, milkwood pine, milky pine, white cheesewood
(Filipino) : dalipoen, dita
(Hindi) : chatian
(Indonesian) : pulai, pule, rite
(Javanese) : pule
(Lao (Sino-Tibetan)) : tinpet
(Malay) : pulai, pulai linlin
(Nepali) : chhataun, chhatiwan
(Sanskrit) : saptaparna
(Tamil) : pala
(Thai) : sattaban, teenpet, teenpethasaban
(Trade name) : chatiyan wood, pulai, shaitan wood, white cheese wood
(Vietnamese) : caay mof cua, caay suwxa

Botanic description
Alstonia scholaris is a medium to large tree, to about 40 m high with a somewhat tessellated corky grey to grey-white bark. The boles of larger trees are strongly fluted to 10 m. The outer blaze is cream to yellowish in colour with abundant, milky latex that flows rapidly when cut. Leaves in whorls of 4-8 in the upper axils; leaf stalks 1-1.5 cm long, the lamina obovate to elliptical or elliptical-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, tapering towards the base, 11.5-23 x 4-7.5 cm. Upper surface is dark green, the lower green-white with 25-40 pairs of lateral veins on each side of the midrib and 2-6 mm apart. The tip of the leaf is rounded or shortly pointed, tapering towards the base. The inflorescence is a much-branched terminal panicle, up to 120 cm long; flowers 7-10 mm long white, cream or green; the tube hairy; lobes sparsely or densely pubescent, 1.5-4 mm long, the left margins overlapping; strongly perfumed. Fruit a pendulous, two-lobed, dehiscent follicle, brown or green, dry or woody, spindle-shaped, 15-32 cm long, 4-6 mm in diameter, containing numerous flat, oblong, brown seeds, 4-5 x 0.9-1.2 mm, with a tuft of hairs 7-13 mm long at each end. The seed does not taper to a point at either end. Alstonia is named after Dr C. Alston (1685-1760), a professor of botany at Edinburgh University. The specific name scholaris is derived from the use of the wood for school boards in Myanmar.

Ecology and distribution

History of cultivation
A. scholaris is planted for its ornamental value in southern Florida and California. In Taiwan, this species is a good timber tree in moist, protected environments.
Natural Habitat
In its natural range in Australia, it is a dominant canopy species found in coastal mesophyll vine forest with a canopy height of 35-42 m, in palm-dominated forests and in notophyll vine forests, associated with Argyrodendron peralatum, Castanospermum australe and Cerapetalum sucirubrum.
Geographic distribution
Native : Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
Exotic : Taiwan, Province of China, United States of America

Biophysical limits
Altitude: 0-900 m, Mean annual temperature: 12-32 deg. C, Mean annual rainfall: 1 200-1 400 mm Soil type: Favourable soils include alluvia, basaltic red earth, yellow earth with grey-brown topsoil, stony red earth on basic volcanic soils, sandy grey earth, brown earth from a volcanic mixture of rocks and soils derived from metamorphic rocks.

Reproductive Biology
The trees are often deciduous at irregular intervals. They do not flower at every leaf-change, but only after marked periods of dry weather. The large branches provide favourable nesting sites for wild bees. Pollination is by insects; when flowering, butterflies and bees often surround trees. The fruits open on the tree and the seeds, which have a tuft of silky hairs at each end, are dispersed by wind.

Propagation and management

Propagation methods
Natural regeneration is often scarce; seedlings are found scattered in groups, particularly in open places at forest edges and in secondary forest. Regeneration can be enhanced by enrichment planting using the strip system, but sufficient opening of the canopy is essential for optimal growth of the seedlings. Seeds are difficult to collect, as the fruits open while still on the tree. The germination rate of fresh seeds is high, nearly 100%. A. scholaris has been grafted. Cleft grafting and inverted T-grafting have been found to be most appropriate.

Tree Management
Regular dry season watering is essential for good growth, and deep mulch has proved beneficial to young trees. It has been managed as a fuelwood species in Sri Lanka under a short coppice rotation of 6-8 years. In a social forestry planting in India, the species reached 3.6 m height and 10 cm diameter at 3.5 years in mixed species. In plantations in Taiwan, it reached an average of 23.5 m in height and 51 cm dbh in 18 years. A maximum of 35 m in height and 109 cm dbh was attained at 41 years of age.

Germplasm Management
Seeds can be stored in closed tins for 2 months, maintaining a germination rate of 90%. Based on the seed size, this species may show orthodox seed storage behaviour. There are approximately 357 000 seeds/kg.

Functional uses

Products
Food: The latex provides a good quality chewing gum. Fuel: A. scholaris has been recommended as a fuelwood species for the patana lands of Sri Lanka. Fibre: Bark yields a fibre, and the wood is regarded as suitable for pulp and paper production. Timber: A. scholaris is the most important source of pulai timber. The density of the wood is 270-490 kg/cubic m at 15% mc. Heartwood cream to pale yellow, sapwood wide and visually indistinct from the heartwood. Often has strong odour and a bitter taste. It is used for pattern making, corestock, plywood, carving and mouldings. The wood is also used for making coffins in Sri Lanka and school boards in Myanmar. Essential oil: Flowers of A. scholaris yield an essential oil. Medicine: Australian aborigines used the bark for treatment of abdominal pains and fevers, the latex for neuralgia and toothache. In India, the bark is used to treat bowel complaints and has proved a valuable remedy for chronic diarrhoea and the advanced stages of dysentery. Leaves used for treating beriberi, dropsy and congested liver. Other products: Wood charcoal is used as gun powder.

Services
Ornamental: The tree is sometimes planted as an ornamental. Other services: In a study of the ethnobotany of the Nagas of Nagaland in northeast India, A. scholaris was amongst the native plants used in magico-religious beliefs.

Pests and diseases
A leaf skeletonizer, Parotis marginata, causes significant damage to nursery stock and young plantations. The timber is liable to termites, pinhole and marine borers, while the sapwood is highly susceptible to lyctid borers.

Acacia auriculiformis (Acacia Kuning)

Species identity

Taxonomy

Current name: Acacia auriculiformis

Authority: A. Cunn. ex Benth.

Family: Fabaceae - Mimosoidea

Synonym(s)

Acacia auriculaeformis A. Cunn. ex Benth.

Racosperma auriculiforme (A. Cunn. ex Benth.) Pedley

Common names
(Bengali) : akash mono
(English) : Australian wattle, coast wattle, Darwin black wattle, earleaf acacia, earpod black wattle, earpod wattle, Japanese acacia, nothern black wattle, Papua wattle, tan wattle, wattle
(Filipino) : auri
(Indonesian) : akasai, akasia, kasia, ki hia
(Malay) : akasia kuning, kasia
(Thai) : krathin-narong

Botanic description
Acacia auriculiformis is an evergreen tree that grows between to 15-30 m tall, with a trunk up to 12 m long and 50 cm in diameter. It has dense foliage with an open, spreading crown. The trunk is crooked and the bark vertically fissured. Roots are shallow and spreading. Leaves 10-16 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm wide with 3-8 parallel nerves, thick, leathery and curved. Flowers are 8 cm long and in pairs, creamy yellow and sweet scented. Pods are about 6.5 x 1.5 cm, flat, cartilaginous, glaucous, transversely veined with undulate margins. They are initially straight but on maturity become twisted with irregular spirals. Seeds are transversely held in the pod, broadly ovate to elliptical, about 4-6 x 3-4 mm. The generic name acacia comes from the Greek word ‘akis’ meaning a point or a barb and the specific epithet comes from the Latin ‘auricula’- external ear of animals and ‘forma- form, figure or shape, in allusion to the shape of the pod.

Ecology and distribution

History of cultivation
Natural stands of A. auriculiformis are found in Australia, southwestern Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. It is planted widely in tropical Asia with extensive plantings in China and India. In western Malaysia it has also become naturalized. It is planted to a lesser extent in Africa and South America.
Natural Habitat
A. auriculiformis occurs from near sea level to 400 m, but is most common at elevation less than 80 m. It is predominantly found in the seasonally dry tropical lowlands in the humid and sub-humid zones. The mean annual rainfall in its natural range varies from 700-2000 mm, and the dry season (i.e. monthly rainfall less than 40 mm) may be 7 months. The mean maximum temperature of the hottest month is 32-34 deg C and the mean minimum of the coolest month is 17-22 deg C. The species is commonly riparian, i.e. ringing perennial rivers and semi-perennial creeks, and tends to form discontinuous populations along drainage systems. Seedlings have the ability to compete with Imperata cylindrica during early growth phases and once mature may reduce the grass to a sparse ground cover. Frost does not occur in its natural range, but elsewhere, it tolerates light frost. It does not tolerate shade, and strong wind easily breaks its branches.
Geographic distribution
Native : Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea
Exotic : Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe

Biophysical limits
Altitude: 0-500(1 000) m Mean annual temperature: 24-38 deg. C Mean annual rainfall: (650) 760-2 000 (6 000) mm Soil type: Found most commonly on clay soils, it exhibits the ability to grow in a variety of soils including calcareous sands and black cracking clays, seasonally waterlogged soils, sandy loams and coral rag. It can also tolerate highly alkaline and saline soils, pH ranging between 4.3 and 9.

Reproductive Biology
Acacia auriculiformis is hermaphroditic and pollinated by a wide range of insects including Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, which forage mainly on pollen.

Propagation and management

Propagation methods
Seeds picked at physiological maturity do not show dormancy, but mature seeds require a pre-germination treatment, such as immersion in boiling water for 1-2 minutes followed by soaking in cold water overnight or soaking in warm water for 24 hours; 40-80% germination occurs between 6-15 days. Direct seed sowing by hand has been successful. Plantations are established using seedlings raised in containers. In general, 3-4 months are needed to raise seedlings to a plantable size, 25 cm in height. Inoculation with appropriate rhizobia may be beneficial, especially when seedlings are raised in sterilized soil. Methods of vegetative propagation through juvenile cutting have been developed and are now a routine and simple operation.

Tree Management
Newly emerged seedlings should receive 50% shade. Once they are established, 70% full sunlight is optimal. In genera, 3-4 months are needed to raise transplantable seedlings that are 25 cm tall. The optimal planting density is not clearly established. Most current plantings are spaced at 2-4 x 2-4 m, the closer spacing being more suitable for firewood and pulp plantations. Removal of lower branches and of young plants has been suggested as a means of improving stem form and of reducing the incidence of multiple stems. A. auriculiformis responds well to pollarding. Young trees respond to coppicing better than old trees, but the tree does not sprout vigorously or prolifically. Best results are obtained if the stump is cut at a height of 0.6-1 m above the ground. Under favourable conditions, trees may reach a height of 15 m in 5 years and produce an annual wood increment of 15-20 cubic m/ha over 10-12 years. An increment in height of 2-4 m per year in the first few years is common even on soils of low fertility. On relatively fertile Javanese soils receiving 2 000 mm annual rainfall, a mean annual increment of 15-20 m³/ha is obtainable but on less fertile or highly eroded sites the increment is reduced to 8-12 m³/ha. Recommended rotation is 4-5 years for fuelwood, 8-10 years for pulp and 12-15 years for timber. One or two thinnings are required with longer rotations, depending on initial spacing, site quality and tree growth.

Germplasm Management
Seed storage behaviour is orthodox; seeds retain viability for several years. There are approximately 55 000-75 000 seeds/kg.

Functional uses

Products
Fodder: Not widely used as fodder, but in India 1-year-old plantations are browsed by cattle. Apiculture: The flowers are a source of pollen for honey production. Fuel: A major source of firewood, its dense wood and high energy (calorific value of 4500-4900 kcal/kg) contribute to its popularity. It provides very good charcoal that glows well with little smoke and does not spark. Fibre: The wood is extensively used for paper pulp. Plantation-grown trees have been found promising for the production of unbleached kraft pulp and high-quality, neutral, sulphite semi-chemical pulp. Large-scale plantations have already been established, as in Kerala, India, for the production of pulp. Timber: The sapwood is yellow; the heartwood light brown to dark red, straight grained and reasonably durable. The wood has a high basic density (500-650 kg/m³), is fine-grained, often attractively figured and finishes well. It is excellent for turnery articles, toys, carom coins, chessmen and handicrafts. Also used for furniture, joinery, tool handles, and for construction if trees of suitable girth are available. Tannin or dyestuff: The bark contains sufficient tannin (13-25%) for commercial exploitation and contains 6-14% of a natural dye suitable for the soga-batik industry. In India, the bark is collected locally for use as tanning material. A natural dye, used in the batik textile industry in Indonesia, is also extracted from the bark. Other products: An edible mushroom, Tylopylus fellus, is common in plantations of A. auriculiformis in Thailand.

Services
Erosion control: Its spreading, superficial and densely matted root system makes A. auriculiformis suitable for stabilizing eroded land. Shade or shelter: The dense, dark-green foliage, which remains throughout the dry season, makes it an excellent shade tree. Planted to provide shelter on beaches and beachfronts. Reclamation: The spreading, densely-matted root system stabilizes eroding land. Its rapid early growth, even on infertile sites, and tolerance of both highly acidic and alkaline soils make it popular for stabilizing and revegetating mine spoils. Soil improver: Plantations of A. auriculiformis improve soil physio-chemical properties such as water-holding capacity, organic carbon, nitrogen and potassium through litter fall. Its phyllodes provide a good, long-lasting mulch. Nitrogen fixing: Acacia auriculiformis can fix nitrogen after nodulating with a range of Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium strains. It also has associations with both ecto- and endo-mycorrhizal fungi. Ornamental: It is used for shade and ornamental purposes in cities where its hardiness, dense foliage and bright yellow flowers are positive attributes. Intercropping: The effect of intercropping with annual crops varies. Increased tree growth has been found with kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), upland rice and groundnut in Thailand; reduced growth with maize in Cameroon.

Pests and diseases
Damage by pests and diseases is minor. In Indonesia, growth rate has been impaired by a rust fungus, Uromyces digitatus; in India, root rot caused by a fungus (Ganoderma lucidum) has been reported. A beetle (Sinoxylon spp.) can girdle young stems and branches, causing them to break. The insect is of concern, because the tree will develop multiple leaders if the main stem is damaged and the length of the bole will be reduced.