TreeRM

Teak

Tectona grandis 路 Lamiaceae 路 also Sagwan, Sagun, Kyun

The world's premier tropical hardwood, a deciduous tree exceeding 30 m (45 m in old stands) with a fluted, buttressed bole, huge rough leaves and sprays of small white flowers. Teak is planted in plantations and on farm boundaries across India, South-East Asia, Africa and Latin America on an 80-year rotation (much shorter in farm forestry), and its durable, oily timber resists termites and marine borers. It sheds leaves for three to four months in the dry season and demands full sun.

Broadleaf, loses its leaves in winterFast growingFull sunModerate water
Teak
Wikimedia Commons, file Starr_010304-0485_Tectona_grandis.jpg (see file page for author and licence)

Where it stands

Native

This tree evolved here, and local wildlife depends on it.

  • 馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia 路 Java; native per ICRAF, introduced per WCVPsource
  • 馃嚠馃嚦 India 路 Central and peninsular Indiasource
  • 馃嚤馃嚘 Laossource
  • 馃嚥馃嚥 Myanmar (Burma)source
  • 馃嚬馃嚟 Thailandsource

Adapted

Introduced, but it handles this climate and has not shown a habit of spreading.

  • 馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil 路 Plantations; exotic per ICRAFsource
  • 馃嚚馃嚪 Costa Rica 路 Major plantation species; introduced per WCVPsource
  • 馃嚦馃嚞 Nigeria 路 Plantations; exotic per ICRAFsource
  • 馃嚨馃嚘 Panama 路 Plantations; introduced per WCVPsource
  • 馃嚬馃嚳 Tanzania 路 Plantations; exotic per ICRAFsource

Care

Plant stumps or seedlings at 2 x 2 m at the start of the rains; weed and protect from fire and grazing for three years. Thin at 5, 10, 18 and 28 years. Early growth is rapid (13 m in five years) then slows after 15 to 20 years. Teak defoliator and skeletoniser moths, bee-hole borers and bacterial wilt in young plants are the main pests. Pure stands erode soil, so mix with indigenous species.

Benefits

Long livedShadeStores carbon wellPollinatorsFast canopy

Good for

TimberAgroforestryReforestationparks

Watch out for

Heavy litterLarge roots