Knema glauca (Blume) Petermann, Pflanzenreich: 249 (1838-1845)

Synonyms
Knema palembanica (Miq.) Warb.
Myristica corticosa var. lanceolata Miq.
Myristica glauca Blume
Myristica intermedia var. minor Miq.
Myristica palembanica Miq.

Diagnostics
Sub-canopy tree up to 21(-30) m tall and 49 cm dbh. Stilt-roots sometimes present, up to 1 m high; bark smooth, cracked, flaky, scaly, or sometimes peeling off in strips 1 cm wide; bark 0.5-1 cm thick, pinkish or red-brown; cambium brown; sapwood whitish, heartwood reddish; sap copious, pinkish. Leaves glossy dark green above, grey-glaucous to cinereous or whitish, with pale yellowish or brownish midrib beneath. Flowers usually reddish inside, from Bali and Borneo yellowish. Fruits yellow(-green), orange, or (pale) apricot; aril scarlet.

Description
Tree 5-30 m. Twigs (1-)1.5-3.5 mm in diameter, at first with grey or brown hairs 0.1 mm long or less, early glabrescent; bark coarsely striate, not tending to crack or flake. Leaves membranous or chartaceous, elliptic to lanceolate, 6-20(-25) by 2-5.5(-11) cm, apex obtuse or (acute-)acuminate, base +/- rounded to attenuate, greenish to (blackish) brown, dull or glossy above; lower surface grey or pale brown, at first with scattered, very weak, greyish (or pale brown) hairs 0.1 mm long or less, early glabrescent; dots absent; midrib little raised above; nerves 12-22(-25) pairs, raised to flat above; venation coarse (areoles 0.5 mm in diameter or more), distinct above; petiole 7-20 by 1-3 mm. Inflorescences: sessile or (in E Java and Borneo) with peduncle up to 3 mm, brachyblast simple or 2- or 3-fid, up to 15 mm long; in male (2-)5-20-flowered, in female 1-8- flowered; flowers with persistent greyish brown scale-like hairs 0.1 mm long or less, perianth 3- (or 4-)lobed, red or in Java and Bali also yellowish (?). Male flowers: pedicel 4-10 mm long, bracteole 0.5-1 mm, persistent, median or above; buds subglobose, 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter, cleft c. 4/5, lobes 0.5-0.8 mm thick; the staminal disc flat to faintly convex, sometimes finely papillate, circular, 1.5-2(-2.5) mm in diameter; anthers 8-10, or in Borneo, E Java, and Bali frequently 11-15, subsessile to stiped, spaced, 0.3-0.5 mm long, +/- horizontal, the connective broad or narrow above, the thecae opening nearly laterally; androphore 0.5-1 mm long. Female flowers: pedicel 1-6 mm long, bracteole somewhat above median; buds ovoid-ellipsoid or obovoid-oblong, 4-6 mm long, cleft to about halfway, lobes at sutures 0.8-1.5 mm thick; ovary ovoid, 1.5-2.5 by 1-2 mm; style 0-0.5 mm long, stigma ¡À flat to erect, 2-lobed and each lobe again 2-4- lobulate. Fruits 1-4 per infructescence, subglobose to ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.8-3(-4?) by 1.4-1.8(-2.5?) cm, at first with short scale-like hairs 0.1 mm long or less, early glabrescent, leaving a fine-granulate surface; dry pericarp 1.5-2.5 mm thick; fruiting pedicel 3-12 mm long. [from Flora Malesiana]

Ecology
Primary and degraded evergreen forest, including mixed dipterocarp forest; forest edges, riverine forest, periodically inundated forest, pole forest, thickets; on a great variety of soils including sandstone, clay, and lateritic, granitic, and black soil, (coral-)limestone, alluvial soils; 0-1500 m altitude.

Uses
The timber is used. The seeds are used for vegetable oils and fats.

Distribution
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo.

Local names
Borneo: Mendarahan.