Octomeles sumatrana Miq.

Up to 62(-80?) by 1½-2¼ (-47) m; clear bole up to 30 m, crown semi-globular, branching made about in pagoda habit; bark grey, thin, ½-5 mm diam.; heartwood absent; wood soft, light (SG 0.34). Buttresses up to 5-10(-15?) by 6 m. Leaf blade 12-30 by 6-23 cm, those of young trees and suckers much larger, margin in juvenile specimens sometimes with a few coarse teeth; nerves rufous, tertiary nerves crossbar-like; petiole 6-30 cm. ♂ Spikes 20-60 cm. Bracts lanceolate, acute, 2 mm long. ♂ Flowers 4-5 by 5 mm, lobes ovate-triangular, acute, 2 mm long. Petals triangular, 3 mm long, apex thickened, with an incurved subulate appendage forming a descending column in bud. Stamens ca 4 mm, filament thick, anther 2 mm. ♀ Flowers in 8-12 cm long spikes, ca 5 mm long; ovary 1-2 mm high, free calyx tube 2-4 mm high, lobes broadly triangular, ca 1 by 2 mm. Styles 1-2 mm, fleshy, thick, flattened; stigma 0.5 mm high, over 1 mm diam. Fruiting spikes 15-40 cm long, on 10-20 cm long peduncles. Capsule 12 mm long, endocarp splitting from the apex nearly to the base, ca 1 cm long. Seeds ca 1 by 0.25 mm, weighing ca 0.00005 Gr.

Often associated with riverine and alluvial deposits but also found in primary and secondary mixed dipterocarp forests on well-drained fertile friable soils; at elevations up to 1,000 metres.

Uses. The wood is soft, coarse-textured and brittle, but the timber can only be used under cover where a weak, perishable timber will suffice. The colossal stems are, however, suitable for making large canoes. The timber industry is still interested in it (cf. Mal. For. 14 1951 229 ). In Borneo Octomeles represents one of the lofty 'bee-trees'.

Plants can be grown from seeds.