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teak |
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teak, tall deciduous tree (Tectona grandis) of the family Verbenaceae (verbena verbena, common name for some members of the Verbenaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and trees (often climbing forms) of warmer regions of the world. Well-known wild and cultivated members of the family include species of the shrubby Lantana and of ..... Click the link for more information. family), native to India and Malaysia but now widely cultivated in other tropical areas. Unfortunately, the wood of plantation teak is considered inferior to that of wild teak; consequently the wild populations are being decimated. Teakwood is moderately hard, easily worked, and extremely durable; beams said to be over 1,000 years old are still functional. The wood contains an essential oil that resists the action of water and prevents the rusting of iron. The heartwood is resistant to termites. Teak is superior to all other woods for shipbuilding and is also used for furniture, flooring, and general construction. Several other similar woods from unrelated trees are sometimes also called teak. Teak (Tectona grandis) is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə) ..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Famiales, family Verbenaceae. teakLarge deciduous tree (Tectona grandis) of the verbena family, and its wood, one of the most valuable and durable timbers. Teak has been widely used in India for more than 2,000 years; some temples contain teak beams more than 1,000 years old. The tree has a straight stem, often thickened at the base, a spreading crown, and four-sided branchlets. The rough leaves are opposite or sometimes whorled, and the branches end in many small white flowers. The unseasoned heartwood has a pleasant, strong aromatic fragrance and a beautiful golden-yellow colour, which on seasoning darkens into brown, mottled with darker streaks. Resistant to the effects of water, teakwood is used for shipbuilding, fine furniture, door and window frames, wharves, bridges, cooling-tower louvers, flooring, and paneling. Its desirability has led to severe overcutting in tropical forests. teak teak 1. a large verbenaceous tree, Tectona grandis, of the East Indies, having white flowers and yielding a valuable dense wood 2. any of various similar trees or their wood 3. the hard resinous yellowish-brown wood of this tree, used for furniture making, etc. 4. a brown or yellowish-brown colour How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| In the middle was a narrow table of teak on trestle legs, with two supporting bars of iron, of the kind called in Spain mesa de hieraje. As he dropped the last grisly fragment of the dismembered and mutilated body into the small vat of nitric acid that was to devour every trace of the horrid evidence which might easily send him to the gallows, the man sank weakly into a chair and throwing his body forward upon his great, teak desk buried his face in his arms, breaking into dry, moaning sobs. Large masses of Java teak and Yellow wood have also been found, besides immense trees of red and white cedar, and the blue gumwood of New Holland, in a perfectly sound condition. |
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