A SURVEY OF THE TREES OF YORROWKABRA FOREST NEAR YARROWKABRA TRAINING CENTRE (YTC) GEORGETOWN, GUYANA (SOUTH- AMERICA) YEAR- 2006 BY DR MOHAMMAD SAQUIB READER & HEAD DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES TURKEYEN CAMPUS GEORGETOWN GUYANA (SOUTH-AMERICA)

BACKGROUND

The Yarrowkabra Training Centre (YTC) is in existence for over 100 years.

The Centre is located some 43 kilometers from Georgetown.

The total land area is approximately 18 hectares.

The area consists predominantly of Dry Evergreen Forest and Dakama

Forest along with some 2 hectares of Pinus Caribbean and 1.2 hectares of

Swamp Forest.

Introduction Guyana has vast forest resources, which cover over three-quarters of the 83,000 square miles landmass. This is approximately 16.9 million hectares or 76.6% of the country’s total land.

TREES OF YORROWKABRA FOREST (General characteristics and uses) Purple heart (Peltogyne venous)

Twigs sparsely covered with appressed and erect hairs when young. Leaves alternate, 2-foliolate; Inflorescence a terminal panicle, 8-20 cm long, densely rusty puberulous;

peduncle 1-3 cm long; pedicels 5-10 mm long. Flowers pink, white to yellow-white; receptacles cup-shaped, slightly

grooved, 5-7 mm long, densely puberulous; sepals 4, 5-12 mm long; petals 5, 7-13 mm long; stamens10, free.

Fruit a leathery to stiff-papery pod, brown, almost circular. an excellent structural timber suitable for heavy outdoor construction work Interior and exterior joinery and ship building. A valuable wood for its attractive appearance and its strength.

Young Purple heart tree

White Silverballi (Ocotea canaliculata)

Twigs round, rather densely covered with appressed hairs when young. Leaves alternate; blades leathery, narrowly elliptic to elliptic-ovate, Inflorescence panicle, in the axils of the upper leaves,. Flowers yellow,

turning pink, unisexual, covered with yellow hairs Fruit a berry, green, ellipsoid. "Hard" Silverballi: general carpentry, boat building (planking), suitable for

both interior and exterior work in house building; furniture and cabinet work; suitable for veneer and plywood. "Soft" Silverballi: general carpentry, Interior work, light furniture; suitable for utility plywood. Simarupa (Quassia simarou

Twigs stout, glabrous. Leaves alternate clustered at branch ends Trees with either male or female flowers. Inflorescence a terminal, many-flowered panicle Fruits with several free fruitlets or mericarps on a 1-3 mm long stipe. Used in furniture for interior use, drawer slides, and some types of cabinet;

framing interior joinery and shoe heels. Excellent qualities for model making, utility wood ware and toy manufacture.

Simarupa peels well and makes attractive plywood. Crabwood: (Carapa guianensis)

Twigs thick, rufous-brown, lenticellate. Leaves alternate, paripinnate, 8-16 foliolate, clustered at end of branchlets

Inflorescences axillary or terminal, clustered spike-like panicle, 35-60 cm long; peduncle 1-10 cm long. Flowers sessile, clustered at the end of inflorescence branches, waxy, sweet- or musky-scented, functionally unisexual

Suitable for general carpentry, furniture, cabinet work, turnery and interior joinery also used for making crab oil.

Seedlings of Crabwood

seeds of Crabwood

Wallaba (Eperature grandiflora)

Twigs glabrous. Leaves alternate, paripinnate, 6-8 foliolate; Inflorescence an erect axillary panicle or raceme, 3-10 cm long, branches

puberulous; pedicels 5mm long. glabrous, reticulately veined, (explosively) dehiscent; seeds 1-2, ovoid to reniform

. Wallaba has excellent properties for transmission poles,flag staffs, and marine and bridge construction.

Owing to its strength and durability, Wallaba is suitable for general heavy construction, utility and industrial floors, and chemical vats staves. Also fence staves, fence posts and shingles for roofing Pod of Wallaba Mature tree

Wallaba Tree Hukuballi (Loxopterygium sagotii)

Twigs finely lenticellate, densely covered with minute, brownish appressed hairs when young. Leaves alternate

Inflorescence an axillary panicle, near end of twig, lax, to 50 cm long; branches densely covered with minute, brownish, appressed hairs

Flowers yellow-green clustered at branch ends, functionally unisexual; calyx 5-lobed, persistent, lobes

Because of its attractive figuring and relative scarcity the wood is best suited for panelling, high-grade furniture and cabinet work.

Mora (mora excelsa)

Twigs glabrous. Leaves alternate, paripinnate,6-8 foliolate; stipules minute, caduceus

Inflorescence a terminal panicle of few, dense spikes; spikes 10-20 by 1-2 cm. Flowers white, sessile; calyx cup-shaped, covered with white, wolly hairs. Fruit a brown, woody pod, 12-20 by 5-7 by 4-5.5 cm, glabrous, flattened,

longitudinally dehiscent; seeds 1-2, ellipsoid to more or less kidney-shaped, seed wall thin and fragile

Best suited for heavy construction work, jetties and foreshore work. Particularly suitable for sleepers, wagon bottoms, and for both traditional and mosaic flooring and shipbuilding. Kabukalli (Goupia glabra)

Twigs smooth, glabrous, and somewhat angular. Leaves alternate, Inflorescence an axillary umbel; peduncle 0.5-1.5 cm long;

pedicels 8-15 mm long. Flowers 3-10 together, 5-10 mm in diameter; calyx minute; petals yellow-white, base red, 5, linear, to 8 mm long, apex folded inward in

bud; stamens 5. Fruit a berry, at first green, turning yellow to red, finally black; seeds 2-5,

yellow-brown Kabukalli is essentially an excellent general heavy and durable construction

timber. Suitable for railway sleepers, paving blocks, furniture and decorative veneer panelling foundations and framing members. Shipbuilding and boring Korokororo (Ormosis coutinhoi)

Twigs rough, rusty-puberulous when young. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate Inflorescence a terminal, many-flowered panicles 3-5 mm long. Calyx cup-shaped, 12-15 mm long, teeth 4-5 mm long; petals 5, pink to dark

purple Fruit a woody pod, yellow-brown, depressed-globose, 5-7 and slightly

constricted between the seeds; seeds 1(-2), red, drying red-brown, discoid or lenticular.

Dark brown to yellowish brown, used for carpentry.

Morabukera (Mora gonggrijpii)

Twigs glabrous, leaves alternate, paripinnate; petioles 1-4 cm long, flat above;

Inflorescence a terminal panicle of dense spikes, spikes 8-13 by 2-2.5 cm. flowers creamy-white, sessile, sweet-scented; calyx cup-shaped; petals 5, 5-6

mm long, more or less erect, margins ciliate; stamens 10,5 of which sterile, exserted, covered with white, woolly hairs.

Fruit a brown, woody pod, longitudinally dehiscent; seeds 1-3, ellipsoid to more or less kidney-shaped, seed wall thin, fragile.

Pinkish or reddish brown with paler streaks, used for heavy construction, decking, and railway ties. Greenheart: (Chlorocardium rodiei)

Twigs angular, densely white-puberulous when young, with a very typical, 0.5-1 cm long apical bud.

Inflorescence an axillary panicle to 5 cm long, densely brownish to whitish puberulous; peduncle 1 cm long; pedicels 3-5 mm long.

Flowers 5-10 mm in diameter, creamy white, jasmine-scented; tepals 8 (rarely 4), basally connate, lobes thick, spreading, 4 mm long; stamens in 3-5 whorls of 4 stamens each, all fertile.

Fruit a berry, pale (grey) brown with white specks, broadly oblong-ellipsoid to globose, slightly laterally

A very heavy, hard timber, suitable for use under exacting conditions, out-standing in most of its strength properties, and of very high durability and having excellent resistance to attack by marine borers.

Canopy and trunk of Greenheart

Bulletwood (Manilkara bidentata)

Twigs thick, glabrous, rough. Leaves alternate, clustered at branch ends; stipules absent, rarely present and then less than 1 mm long; petiole 1.5-4.5 cm long, angular, flattened above;

Inflorescence an axillary 3-20 flowered cluster, in upper leaf axils; pedicels 20-30 mm long, in fruit up to 50 mm long and apically thickened.

Flowers bisexual, pendent, with appendages inside the corolla; sepals 6, free, in 2 rows.

Fruit a berry, yellow-orange to purple-black, broadly ellipsoid (to globose), shortly apiculate to rounded, glabrous, smooth or somewhat rough, wall firm, flesh pulpy, edible, sweet-tasting; seeds 1, dark brown, with a light brown patch, depressed-ellipsoid.

Use: Interior and exterior joinery and ship building. A valuable wood for its attractive appearance and its strength.

BulletWood Tree Hakia (Tabebuia serratifolia)

Twigs round, striate, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves opposite, digitate, 5-7 foliolate, central leaflet largest;

Inflorescence a terminal corymbose, many-flowered panicle; densely covered with brown, scurfy scale-like and stellate hairs.

Fruit a more or less woody capsule; seeds numerous, 2 winged, body dark brown, wings light brown, papery, 10-15 mm long.

Dark olive brown with light or dark streaks, used for furniture and heavy construction. Haiawaballi (Tetragastris altissima)

Twigs angular to grooved, stout, covered with short brown hairs when young. Leaves alternate

Inflorescence a terminal panicle, to 20 cm long; peduncle 4-7 cm long; pedicels 3-5 mm long.

Flowers functionally either male or female; calyx cup-shape, petals 5, green-white, connate, tube 2.5-3 mm long, lobes 2.5-3 mm long.

Fruits a fleshy drupe, red, globose to obliquely broadly ovoid Brownish yellow, used for interior joinery and plywood.

Matchwood (Schefflera morototoni)

Twigs stout, covered with short golden-brown hairs when young. Leaves alternate, clustered at branch ends, palmate

Inflorescence a terminal many-flowered panicle of umbels, usually several together

Flowers densely clustered, 3mm in diameter; white to greenish, 5-merous; calyx a dentate rim; petals 5, 2 mm long; stamens 5.

Fruit a drupe, shiny, purple-green, subglobose to transversely ovoid, laterally flattened

Used to make match stick and crates for packing tomato, apples, and soft fruits Manni (Symphonia globulifera)

Twigs angular, glabrous. Leaves opposite; petiole 0.5-0.8 cm long, grooved

above; blades (more or less) leathery, narrowly ovate to narrowly obovate Inflorescence axillary or terminal, more or less umbelliform cymes; Fruit a berry, brown to purple, with yellow latex, ellipsoid-globose to globose A general utility timber used for general construction and carpentry, housing

construction: farming members, exterior and interior work, and flooring. Furniture and cabinet work, packing cases, barrel staves and railway sleepers.

Kakaralli (Eschweilera alata)

Twigs narrowly, winged, wings 1-1.5 mm wide, glabrous. Leaves alternate; Inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme, 10-30 cm long, branches

somewhat zigzagged; pedicels 3-20 mm long. Flowers zygomorphic Fruit a woody pyxidium, widely obconical, calyx remnants inserted below

the middle of the cup; seeds 2. Used for industrial flooring and piles.

Locus (Hymenaea courbaril)

Twigs thin, round, glabrous. Leaves alternate, 2-foliolate; stipules linear, 1.5-3 cm long, enclosing the leaf bud, caduceus;

Inflorescence a terminal panicle, 5-15 cm long. Flowers 25-30 mm long; receptacle cup-shaped,

Fruit a woody pod, dark to light brown, oblong-ellipsoid, indehiscent A wood of decorative appearance suitable for use in the manufacture of high

grade furniture, cabinet work, decorative joinery and veneer. Also used for ship-building, general construction, and the making of tool handles and croquet mallets. Manniballi (Moronobea coccinea)

Twigs sparsely black-puberulous. Leaves opposite, concentrated at branch ends

Flowers terminal, solitary; pedicels 10-20 mm long; sepals 5, 6-7 mm long, persistent in fruit; petals 5, pink, twisted, stamens in 5 bundles of 3-6, connate at the base, free part of the filaments twisted around the ovary; style slender, apically 5-fid, persistent.

Fruit a berry, greenish to bluish yellow, ellipsoid to globose, 4-5 cm in diameter; with white waxy layer; seeds few.

Light yellow brown with veins, used for furniture and flooring White cedar (Tabebuia insignis)

Twigs ribbed, with U-shaped leaf-scars, grey, covered with brown scales when young..

Inflorescence a terminal, few-flowered, forked cyme, ca. 15 cm long Fruit a more or less woody capsule, linear, 10-20 by 0.8-1.5 cm apiculate,

densely covered with scales; seeds numerous, oblong, winged, body 5-7 by 8-11 by 1 mm wings papery,

10-15 mm long.

Iti Palm: (Mauritia flexuosa)

A very large, palmate palm to about 25m tall, with petioles up to 6m long. The fruit is a yellow/reddish colour, and an inflorescence can weigh up to

40kgs. One of the most used plants in the Amazon. The fruits are either eaten raw,

dried and made into flour, or made into a paste which can be used to make alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

They also yield palm-oil. The inflorescence and buds are consumed, while starch is extracted from the trunk.

The leaves, petioles, and trunks are used in housing.

Ite Palm

Ite Palm Inflorescence Manicole Palm ( Euterpe edulis) Trunk type:Single trunk, rather thin, with a colored, long crownshaft. Leaf type:Pinnate (feather shaped). Suckering/Solitary:Solitary (single trunk) Maintenance:Average; good grower once established. Speed of growth:Average Height:20 to 25 feet General Description:A very nice, rather thin-trunked, pinnate palm with a somewhat colored long crownshaft. Is surprisingly cold hardy and very attractive. . It is considered one of the most nutritious fruits of the Amazon, second erhaps to the Brazil Nut.

Manicole Palm: fruit Cupressus (GYMNOSPERM)

Trees or large shrubs, evergreen. Branchlets terete or quadrangular, in

decussate arrays in most species Seed cones maturing in 2 years, mostly varying from about 16-25 months

after pollination; generally persisting closed many years or until opened by fire, but opening on maturity, and falling soon after seed release

Seeds (3)5-20 per scale, lenticular or faceted, narrowly 2-winged; cotyledons 2-5.

Uses: Posts and poles, furniture components, and general construction.

Cupressus Tree

Cupressus seedlings Common black kakaralli (Eschweilera sagotiana)

Twigs glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole 0.8-1.5 cm long, flat. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary panicle of racemes Fruit a woody pyxidium, cup-shaped, 2-3 by 4.5-5 cm, glabrous, calyx

remnants inserted near the top of the cup seeds 1-2, 1.6-2by 1.3-1.5 cm, aril lateral. Used for industrial flooring and piles.

Araurama (Sclerolobium guianense)

Twigs angular, densely to sparely covered with long reddish brown erect hairs when young.

Inflorescence a terminal, lax panicle, 10-20 cm long, often many crowded together, densely covered with reddish brown woolly hairs.

Flowers subsessile; calyx cup-shaped, 2-3 mm long; petals 5, yellowish to greenish white, 2-3 mm long, linear; stamens 10, exserted, 4-6 mm long, unequal; ovary stipitate.

Fruit a pod, leathery to thin-woody, grey-black, narrowly ellipsoid, 5-12 by 2.5-3 by 1-.2 cm, flattened, wing-like, indehiscent, but woody outer wall flaking off;

seed 1, broadly elliptic to circular, thin, 20 mm in diameter. Used for heavy construction, railroad crossties, poles (sapwood peeled),

industrial flooring, tank staves, and highly favored for charcoal. Bloodwood (Brosimium Rubescens)

This beautiful heavy wood is as red as blood and as smooth as silk A medium sized hardwood tree up to 35 m in height and 1 m in diameter. The reddish-brown, scaly bark covers the whole of the tree, and red-coloured

kino exudates freely. Used for making furniture

Bloodwood

Waruwai (Protium decandrum)

Twigs slender to rather stout, sparsely covered with erect and appressed hairs.

Inflorescence an axillary, lax raceme of cymes, 4-10 cm long; peduncle 2-3 cm long; pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm long.

Flowers unisexual; calyx cup-shaped, 1-1.5 mm long, lobes 0.4-0.5 mm long, persistent; petals 5, white-green, 2-4 mm long; stamens 10.

Fruit a drupe, shiny, green, asymmetrical, very broadly ovoid seed 1 per pyrene Used for ship building and interior construction.

Huruasa ( Abarema jupunba)

Twigs angular, rather densely covered with erect and appressed hairs when young.

Inflorescence a terminal (or axillary) pedunculate cluster of heads, covered with rusty-brown hairs

Fruit a more or less woody pod, green to dark brown, curved and twisted, flat, 10 by 0.8-1.6 cm, swollen over the seeds, inner side brick-red, ventral margin somewhat thickened;

seeds 8-10, white with blue-green spot, 7 by 5 by 4 mm. Pale brown to red brow, used for furniture, interior trim, light carpentry.

Dukali (Parahancornia amapa)

Heartwood normally off white occasionally pale cream to pinkish, not sharply defined from sapwood.

Fairly lustrous, odourless and tasteless. Texture moderately fine; grain straight. Weight - about 30 lb/ft3. Strength class 2. It is a low density timber; air dries

easily with little degrade except for sap stain if improperly stacked. Works easily and finishes smoothly.

Use: General carpentry

Pinus ( Pinus caribaea) GYMNOSPERM Heartwood generally golden brown to red brown and distinct from the

lighter sapwood. Texture somewhat coarse; grain is typically straight; luster medium; strong

resinous odor; growth zones generally clearly defined but often lacking in juvenile wood. Compression wood often present, at least in plantation-grown wood.

Weight:Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies considerably and may range from 0.34 to 0.68; air-dry density 26 to 51 pcf Hardness /

Toughness:Janka side hardness 980 lb for green material and 1,240 lb at 12% moisture content.

Forest Products Laboratory toughness average for green and dry material is 251 in.-lb. (5/8-in. specimen).

Durability:Durability and resistance to insect attack varies with resin content, heartwood generally rated moderately durable. Sapwood prone to blue stain.

Uses:General light and heavy construction, carpentry, flooring, joinery, utility poles and railroad crossties (treated), boat building, vats, utility plywood, pulp and paper products.

Pinus caribaea tree /P. caribaea foliage leaf / female cone / male cone

Pinus Tree Pinus needle

Female cone of Pinus Male cone of Pinus Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citrus)

Lemon Grass is a tall tropical grass. The fresh stalks and leaves have a clean lemon like odour because they contain an essential oil, which is also present in lemon peel.

Lemon grass is a long thick grass with leaves at the top and a solid portion several inches long at the root end.

It is well known a mild insect repellent (citronella) and the essential oil is used in perfumery.

Lemon Grass

Queen Sago (Cycas circinalis) GYMNOSPERM

Height: 6 to 15 feet Spread: 8 to 12 feet Plant habit: palm Plant density: moderate Growth rate: slow Texture: fine Foliage arrangement: spiral Leaf type: even-pinnately compound Trunk/bark/branches: can be trained to grow with a short, Leaf margin: entire Leaf shape: lanceolate Leaf venation: none Leaf color: green Flower color: no flowers Fruit shape: elongated Fruit length: 1 to 3 inches Fruit cover: dry or hard Fruit color: brown Fruit characteristic: showy Economic Importance Used to prepare baskets, hats and mats, used as narcotics. The powder of

bark and seed of cycas mixed with coconut oil and medicine in wounds, sore and swelling. The juice of tender leaves of cycas are useful for checking vomiting, cycas are extensively cultivated for decorative purposes.

Female Cycas Tree with megasporophyll

Cycas Tree with bulbils

Top- Old Cycas Trunk bottom- Female Cycas tree with megasporophyll

Long John (Triplaris spp)

A medium-sized tree, becoming 70 ft tall and 18 in. in diameter; the bole is slightly angled or fluted and has low narrow buttresses. Sapwood not distinct from heartwood which is a pale gray brown to pinkish brown. Luster medium; texture medium to moderately coarse; grain straight or slightly interlocked; without distinctive odor or taste.

Furniture components, boxes and crates, interior construction, fiberboard and particleboard, joinery

Long Jhon Tree

Trysil (Pentaclethra macroloba)

Tree; max. height 35 meters. Often found in flood prone areas with acidic and non fertile soils. Its foliage and flowers make it an excellent choice for reforestation. The wood is heavy and a reddish brown color and is used locally for

construction. Used locally for construction.

Trysil Tree

Conclusion

Wood is probably the first construction material used by man (Petrucci, 1973). Wood is unique in several ways: it may be obtained in relatively large quantities from a renewable resource; it may be manipulated with relatively simple technology; it is a poor conductor of heat and electricity; and it comes in a variety of patterns and colours.

As a construction material, wood has some relative disadvantages, the major

ones being - it is heterogeneous and anisotropic; it is vulnerable to attack by biological agents; it is combustible; it undergoes dimensional change according to its moisture content; and it has very limited natural dimensions.

Wood is a very versatile material that could be sawn, crushed and

reconstituted, sliced or peeled, seasoned and treated chemically to produce a large number of products of considerable economic benefit to man.

Timbers from tropical forests are unique due to the huge diversity of colours,

densities, and chemical and mechanical properties. Tropical trees take a very long time to achieve commercial dimensions. This, coupled with the special utilization attributes of the various species, demand that more importance should be given to optimising the use (and value) of the timber that is harvested.