IDENTIFICATION OF

AGARWOOD-PRODUCING TREES IN VIETNAM

In this bilingual presentation we try answering to the following questions:

 To which order belongs the family Thymelaeaceae ?

 How to locate the position of Aquilaria genus , Gyrinops genus
and Gonystylus genus in the Phylogeny system ?
 Which species/varieties of the family Thymelaeaceae are
existing in Vietnam ?
 How to identify Aquilaria crassna Pierre species from other
species of the family Thymelaeaceae through: Leaf and venation,
Flower, Fruit, Seed ?
 How is the transformation of chemical constituents during the
process of Agarwood formation in Aquilaria tree ?
 How to germinate Aquilaria crassna Pierre seed ?
 How to plant Aquilaria crassna Pierre seedlings in the field ?
 Main disease and pest infestation for Aquilaria trees
 What is fake Agarwood ?

Applied Biology Department 1

 INTERNATIONAL CODE OF
BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE (ICBN)
TOKYO CODE (1993), ST LOUIS CODE (1999), VIENNA CODE (2005)
Domain (Vực)
Kingdom (Giới)
Subkingdom (Phân giới)
Phylum or Division (Ngành) ---phyta
Subphylum (Phân ngành) --- phytina
Class (Lớp) --- opsida
Subclass (Phân lớp) --- idae
Order (Bộ) --- ales
Suborder (Phân bộ) --- ineae
Family (Họ) --- aceae
Subfamily (Phân họ) --- oideae
Tribe (Tông) --- eae; --- inae
Genus (Chi)
Section (Tổ)
Series (Loạt)
Species (Loài)
Variety (Thứ)
Form (Dạng)
Applied Biology Department 2
 THE FIRST QUESTION:
TO WHICH ORDER BELONGS THE FAMILY THYMELAEACEAE ?

Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel

Phylum: Magnoliophyta Cronquist

Class: Magnoliopsida Brongniart

? Order Myrtales (Bộ Sim) – according to Cronquist system

? Order Malvales (Bộ Cẩm quỳ) – according to APG II system
? Super-order Euphorbianae (Liên bộ Thầu dầu) – according to
Dr. Vo van Chi

To answer to this question you have to well understand what is Cronquist system (1968 &
1981) and what is Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG II–2003)
Applied Biology Department 3
 THE ANSWER FROM CRONQUIST SYSTEM (1968-1981)

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida Class: Liliopsida

Cây có hoa, 2 lá mầm Cây có hoa, 1 lá mầm, 5 subclass
Subclasses

Magnoliidae Hamamelididae Caryophyllidae Asteridae

Mộc Lan Sau sau Cẩm chướng Cúc

Subclass: Dilleniidae Subclass: Rosidae

Phân lớp Sổ, 13 orders Phân lớp Hoa hồng, 18 orders

Order: Malvales Order: Myrtales

Bộ Cẩm quỳ Bộ Sim

Family: Thymelaeaceae
Họ Trầm
Cronquist system 1981: An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering plants
Applied Biology Department 4
 THE ANSWER FROM Dr. VO VAN CHI

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida Class: Liliopsida

Cây có hoa, 2 lá mầm Cây có hoa, 1 lá mầm, 4 subclass
Subclasses

Magnoliidae Hamamelididae Caryophyllidae Asteridae

Ngọc Lan Sau sau Cẩm chướng Cúc
Subclasses

Ranunculidae Lamiidae Subclass: Dilleniidae Rosidae

Hoàng Liên Hoa môi Phân lớp Sổ Hoa hồng

Superorder: Euphorbianae
Liên bộ Thầu dầu

Order: Euphorbiales Order: Thymelaeales

Bộ Thầu dầu Bộ Trầm
Võ văn Chi - Sách tra cứu tên cây cỏ Việt nam – 2007 - trang 36
Applied Biology Department 5
THE ANSWER FROM APG II (2003 – 2007)
Clade: Magnoliopsida
Cây có hoa, 2 lá mầm

Clade: palaeodicots
Cây có hoa, 2 lá mầm

Clade: eudicots
Cây có hoa, 2 lá mầm
thật sự (tricolpate)

Family: Thymelaeaceae
Họ Trầm

Applied Biology Department 6

 DESCRIPTION OF ROSIDS CLADE
Vitales
Geraniales
Myrtales
Zygophyllales
Celastrales
Malpighiales
Rosids Oxalidales
Fabales
Rosales
Cucurbitales

Fagales
Brassicales
Malvales Thymelaeaceae
Sapindales
After www.life.illinois.edu/ib/335/Magnoliidae.html
Applied Biology Department 7
 PROVISIONAL CONCLUSION (BASED ON APG II)

Kingdom (Giới): Plantae Haeckel

Subkingdom (Phân giới): Embryophyta
Phylum or Division (Ngành): Magnoliophyta Cronquist
Subphylum (Phân ngành): Magnoliophytina Frohne & U. Jensen
Class (Lớp): Magnoliopsida Brongniart
Subclass (Phân lớp): Rosidae Takht.(or clade rosids in APG II)
Order (Bộ): Malvales Dumort. (placed in clade eurosids II, APG)
Family (Họ): Thymelaeaceae Juss.
Subfamily (Phân họ): Thymelaeoideae
Tribe (Tông): Daphneae; Aquilarieae; Synandrodaphneae;…
Genus (Chi): Aetoxylon Airy Shaw; Aquilaria Lam.; Arnhemia Airy
Shaw; Craterosiphon Engl. & Gilg; Dais L.; Daphne L.; Deltaria Steenis; Diarthron
Turcz.; Dicranolepis Planch.; Edgeworthia Meisn.; Enkleia Griff.; Gnidia L.;
Gonystylus Teijsm. & Binn.; Gyrinops Gaertn.; Lethedon Spreng.; Linostoma
Wallich ex Endlicher; Octolepis Oliv.; Phaleria Jack; Solmsia Baill.; Stellera L.;
Synandrodaphne Gilg; Synaptolepis Oliv.; Thymelaea Mill.; Wikstroemia
Endlicher; ………
For other taxonomic hierarchy: www.plantsystematics.org/reveal/PBIO/pb450/intr.html
Applied Biology Department 8
 PHYLOGENETIC TREE OF THYMELAEOIDEAE

Octolepis
Gonystylus
Lethedon
Deltaria
Solmsia
Thymelae- Arnhemia
oideae Synandrodaphne

Aquilaria
Aquilarieae Gyrinops
Other genera
Synandrodaphneae Daphne group

Daphneae
Phaleria group Other
genera
Tribes of subfamily Thymelaeoideae
Other
Thymelaeoideae is a subfamily of Thymelaeaceae Gnidia group genera

After Marline Rautenbach-Digispace at the University of Johannesburg, 8 July 2008

 AGARWOOD-PRODUCING TREES IN VIETNAM
3 genera, 8 species, 2 varieties
Genus: Gyrinops Gaertn. (Dó Bụi)
Species: Gyrinops vidalii P.H.Ho (Dó Bụi)

Genus: Linostoma Wallich ex Endlicher (Dó Leo)

Species: Linostoma decandrum Wallich ex Endlicher (Dó Leo)

Genus: Aquilaria Lamk. (Dó Trầm)

Species: Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte (Dó Bầu)
Variety (?): Dó Tía (redish-brown stem and petiole, thick leaf)
Variety (?): Dó Trắng (grayish-brown stem, white stripe in petiole)
Aquilaria baillonii Pierre ex Lamarck (Dó Gạch)
Aquilaria banaensis P.H.Ho (Dó Bà Nà)
Aquilaria rugosa L.C.Kiet & Kebler (Dó Quả Nhăn)
Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk. (Dó Mã Lai)
Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Sprengel (Dó Trung Quốc)

After Vu Van Dung’s report at MARD seminar

Applied Biology Department 10
 CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATION IN AQUILARIA TREE

COMPARISON BETWEEN INOCULATED TREE AND HEALTHY TREE

Content (%)
No. Compound Name
NI H
1 Pentadecenoic acid 6.8 0
2 Valerianol 3.0 0.1
3 Heptanoic acid 2.4 trace
4 Octanoic acid 2.1 0
5 10-epi-gamma-eudesmol 1.5 0
6 Tetradecanoic acid 7.1 6.9
7 Tridecanoic acid 0 3.2
8 Linoleic acid 0 3.4
9 Octadecanoic acid 1.0 4.1
10 Dodecanoic acid 2.5 3.1
11 Pentadecanoic acid 4.8 6.2
12 Hexadecanoic acid 20.0 31.5
- NI stands for wood chips of Naturally Infected tree
- H stands for wood chips of Healthy tree
- Tree species: Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.

Applied Biology Department 11

CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATION IN AQUILARIA TREE

Applied Biology Department 12

WARNING: FAKE AGARWOOD
Some fakers sell resinous wooden
piece of Excoecaria agallocha tree in
agarwood market and call it as
agarwood. Excoecaria agallocha is
also known as milky mangrove,
blind-your-eye mangrove and fish
poison, whose milky sap is
poisonous.

Applied Biology Department 13