Kapur Wood

The Standard Malaysian Name for the timber of Dryobalanops spp. (Dipterocarpaceae). Vernacular names applied to this timber include kapur (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak) with various epithets, keladan (Peninsular Malaysia) and kelansau (Sarawak). Major species include D. aromatica, D. beccarii, D. keithii, D. lanceolata, D.oblongifolia and D. rappa. The sapwood is yellowish brown and sharply defined from the heartwood, which is reddish brown.

DENSITY

The timber is a Medium Hardwood with a density of 580-820 kg/m³ air dry.

NATURAL DURABILITY

Standard graveyard test of untreated D. aromatica and D. oblongifolia specimens of dimension 51 mm x 51 mm x 610 mm had been conducted in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (Jackson, 1965). From the studies conducted, the average service life of D. oblongifolia and D. aromatica were 1.9 and 6.0 years respectively. It can be seen that there is a remarkable difference in the natural durability of these two species and based on the weakest species, kapur is therefore classified as not durable. It is known that these two species are resistant to fungal attack, but are susceptible to termite attack.