MELINA TREE INFORMATION

Melina is a specie with broad natural distribution in southeast Asia, and grows form sea level to 1,000 m above sea level. It has been introduced in tropical countries and has been very successful under a wide range of climatic conditions. In Latin America, the species has been planted mainly in Costa Rica, Brazil, Venezuela and Guatemala. The species grows in the following life zones: Very Humid Tropical Forest, Humid Tropical Forest, and Dry Tropical Forest in sites where the average annual precipitation is between 1,000 and 3,000 mm, from sea level to 500 m of elevation and with average temperatures between 24 and 35 °C (Murillo and Valerio 1991). In Costa Rica it has been observed growing well up to 600 m above sea level with average annual precipitation of up to 2,500 mm and 2 - 4 dry months per year.

For good development the species requires deep, well-drained soils, with a lime to lime-clay texture and flat to hilly topography. Some strong limiting factors to its development are wind, clay, flooded or compact soils, and weed competition.

Pruning is one of the main silvicultural activities applied in the management of this species. The experiences generated in Costa Rica suggest that three prunings in a 12 year cycle are recommendable. The first cutting of branches should be made when the plantation trees reach an average height of 5 meters, to 50% of the trees' height. The second should be made when the average tree height reaches 10 meters, cutting back the branches to 50% of the trees' height and the last pruning should be made when the trees reach a height of 16 meters and then they should be pruned to a height of 10 meters. Carrillo (1997) estimated that a pruning program that guarantees 10 meters of knot-free wood, would represent approximately 80% of the commercial volume extracted from the plantation without knots.

 Also is important to know that:

Wind affects negatively species growth.

The species grows better on flat terrain, at the foot of hills where water and nutrients are more readily available.

Proper site preparation before planting is important to melina’s success.

Ten-year-old plantations that show dominant heights greater than 26.7 m reflect high productivity sites and those that have dominant heights lower than 19.7 represent low productivity sites.