Moluccan Iron Wood
Intsia bijuga
Also known as Borneo Teak
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Andaman & Nicobar Islands, West Bengal
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Moluccan Iron Wood
Identify Moluccan Iron Wood by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Valuable hardwood timber tree.
- Confirm leaf type: Pinnately compound (leaflets in rows along a stalk).
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm fruit type: Legume.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, West Bengal.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Intsia bijuga
- Genus
- Intsia
- Family
- Caesalpiniaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Tidal forests
- Distribution
- India, Sundarbans, Andamans (India), Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Malesia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Australia, American Samoa
- Found in India
- Andaman & Nicobar Islands, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (VU)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Pinnately compound (leaflets in rows along a stalk)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Moluccan Iron Wood itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Fruit type
- LegumerecordedA dry pod that splits open along two seams (typical of the pea/bean family).“The fruit is a rather flat woody pod measuring between 10–28 cm (3.9–11.0 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) broad, with up to 8 disc-shaped seeds about 3 cm (1.2 in) diameter and 1 ” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Moluccan Iron Wood itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family — flowering plants only.
About Moluccan Iron Wood
Moluccan Iron Wood (Intsia bijuga) is a tree in the Caesalpiniaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and West Bengal. It grows in tidal forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
Locally it is long used in traditional medicine, cut for timber and furniture and a source of dye or tannin. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
In culture
It is treated as sacred and appears in worship.
Caesalpiniaceae
Senna family
Moluccan Iron Wood belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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