Abstract

With the recent development of commercial plantations throughtout the tropics, there has been renewed interest in fast-grown teak timber quality. Some selected wood properties of fast-grown teak are appraised on the basis of current limited data to determine the quality of timber from intensively managed plantations. Contrary to common opinion, fast- growing dominant (phenotypically superior) trees were found to yield a higher percentage of heartwood per tree during the juvenile period (upto 21), whereas the differences were not significant in the mature period (55 and 65 years) . Faster growth had very little effect on the strength of timber from 13-, 21-, 55- and 65-year-old plantations. Teak offers potential for producing timber of optimum strength with relatively short rotations of 21 years at suitable plantation sites. Data from intensively managed jevenile teak plantations indicate that: (a) Fast-growing provenances/clones can be selected for teak management without