Hopea plagata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Hopea plagata (Blanco) S. Vidal

Protologue: Sinopsis: t. 15A (1883).

Dipterocarpus plagatus Blanco (1845), Hopea dasyrrachis P. Ashton (1968) non v. Slooten.

• Philippines: yakal saplungan (general), taggai (Iloko, Negrito), paina (Tagalog).

The Philippines and north-eastern Borneo.

H. plagata is the most widespread heavy construction timber in the Philippines, used for general house construction (especially for posts), ship building, for bridges, wharves and railway ties.

A large tree of up to 55 m tall, bole with a diameter of up to 180 cm, buttressed, bark surface flaky; all parts glabrous; leaves elliptical-lanceolate to ovate, 6-12 cm × 2.5-7 cm, more or less falcate, leathery, base cuneate to obtuse, more or less markedly unequal, acumen tapering, up to 1.5 cm long, venation scalariform, midrib raised above, secondary veins 8-11(-12) pairs, slender, elevated beneath, applanate above, ascending at 35-65; stamens about 35, subequal, anthers elongate, ovary ovoid, with obscure stylopodium and short broad style; 2 longer fruit calyx lobes up to 4.5 cm × 2.0 cm, broadly oblong-spatulate, sometimes suborbicular, 3 shorter ones up to 7 mm × 4 mm, ovate. H. plagata is widespread and common in semi-evergreen seasonal forest or (less often) evergreen non-seasonal forest on limestone (Sarawak); often on coastal hills and ridges, at low and medium altitude. The density of the wood is about 1100 kg/m³at 15% moisture content.

175, 258, 579, 599, 748, 815.