Agar
Agar
Scientific name: Aquilaria malaccensis
English name: Agar
Local name: ‘Agar’
Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1981)
Kingdom : Plantae
Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Family : Thymelaeaceae
Genus : Aquilaria
Species : A. malaccensis
Botanical Description of Agor Plant
Habit: A large evergreen tree, up to 30 m tall, with clear and straight bole, whitish bark, young part silky hairy.
Fig. Anatomical Image of Agar Stem
Leaves: Leaves alternate, c 10.0 x 23 cm, petioles 2 mm long, elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, caudate-acuminate, glabrous, lateral veins gradually faint.
Inflorescence: Inflorescence terminal, umbellate cymes.
Flowers: Flowers pedicellate, perianth white, campanulate, lobes 5, rounded, spreading, densely villous inside, connate at the base.
Androecium: Stamens 10.
Gynoecium: Ovary superior, 2-celled, villous, stigmas capitate.
Fruits: Capsules ovoid, up to 4 cm long, densely tomentosc, the elongated brown seed first come out and hang with the sticky funicle for a day or two and then drops from the fruit still attached with the plant.
Economic uses: When a funeal infection occurs the wood becomes loaded with oleo-resinous substance in the wood is subjected to steam distillation to extract an Agar.