Ochanostachys bancana (Becc.) Valeton

A medium-sized to sometimes large evergreen tree up to 30(-50) m tall; bole straight or rather poorly shaped, branchless for up to 15(-20) m, up to 60(-80) cm in diameter, fluted and often with short buttresses at base; bark surface with distant roundish to oblong thin adherent scales, mottled with purplish shades of pale brown, yellowish-brown or dark brown, inner bark finely fibrous, mottled yellowish to orange-brown-fawn, with droplets of white latex and separated from the cambium by a purplish line; crown dense and dark with many small branches. Leaves arranged spirally, simple and entire, ovate or elliptical to oblong, (5-)6-13 cm x (2.5-)3-7 cm, broadly cuneate to rounded at base, apex short-bluntly acuminate, pinnately veined with (4-)5(-8) pairs of secondary veins, tertiary venation scalariform; petiole (1-)1.5-2(-3) cm long, with an apical knee; stipules absent. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, arranged interruptedly, either solitary or 2-4 together in a simple or sometimes 1-2-branched, up to 12 cm long spike from the leaf axils, c. 3 mm long, green to whitish-yellowish, almost sessile; calyx 4-5-toothed; petals (3-)4(-5), united at the very base; stamens (1-)2(-3) before each petal; ovary superior, depressed-ovoid, glabrous, with a short cylindrical style. Fruit a subglobose to ovoid pendulous drupe, (1.5-)2-2.5(-3) cm in diameter, turning yellow when ripe, with a thin pericarp and woody endocarp, 1-seeded. Seed subglobular. Seedling leaves similar in form to those of the mature tree. Petaling is easily recognized by its typical flower arrangement. The mottled bark is also characteristic. The wood is similar to kulim (Scorodocarpus borneensis (Baillon) Becc.), but does not smell of garlic.

Petaling trees flower almost throughout the year, except for December and January; fruits may be found throughout the year, but mast fruiting years have been observed. Animals like monkeys and birds most probably disperse the seeds, by eating the fruits.

It is found on clay-rich, loamy or sandy, usually well-drained soils, apparently growing well on laterite, and is only rarely found in periodically inundated locations.

Petaling is a fairly common but scattered understorey or rarely canopy tree of primary or sometimes secondary lowland rain forest. It often thrives in mixed dipterocarp forest on undulating country or hillsides and ridges.

Petaling can be propagated by seed. However, during a test seed germinated very slowly; the first seedling was observed 2.5 months after sowing and the last one more than 2 years after sowing. The germination percentage is about 20%. Petaling can be planted on a variety of soils.

Plantation: Under natural conditions, it takes approximately 150 years for a petaling tree to grow to a diameter of 50 cm, and 200 years to reach a diameter of 60 cm, but a mean annual diameter increment of about 1.0 cm has been reported for an individual 44-year-old tree in the arboretum of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. In a sample plot with 308 petaling trees an annual diameter increment of 0.5 cm has been measured. Early growth is about 2.4 m in height in 5 years. In a plantation trial in Malaysia, trees with an age of 33 years attained a mean height of 21 m. Natural regeneration of petaling is sparse and scattered, but may be fairly plentiful under favourable conditions. It is very tolerant of shade and only rarely reaches the canopy top. Natural vegetative reproduction takes place by means of coppice shoots and root suckers. In natural forest in Peninsular Malaysia, the average number is 1 tree of commercial size to 1.6 ha, but locally it may be as much as 2.5 trees/ha. It is not resistant to fire, as about 90% mortality was observed after fire in East Kalimantan.

Others services: Petaling is useful for underplanting in forest plantations to reduce weed growth and hence the costs of weed control. In this way it has been successfully planted with meranti (Shorea spp.) in Peninsular Malaysia.

Food: The seeds are edible when cooked or roasted. Medicine: A decoction of the bark has been used medicinally against fever and after childbirth. Rheumatic fever has been treated by applying a paste of the roots with bark of Koompassia or by a bath prepared by using petaling leaves along with Koompassia bark and coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) seed. Timber: Petaling timber is used for house posts and other heavy construction purposes such as bridge bearers for logging roads and railways, for telephone poles, foundation piles, fence posts, flooring and tool handles. Because it has no figure it is less suitable for furniture or indoor work such as staircases, but the wood has been observed to be used as such. Utilization for pallets, boxes, and crates has also been reported. The high elasticity of the wood makes it suitable for gymnasium equipment, such as horizontal bars.