Castanopsis costata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Castanopsis costata (Blume) A.DC.

Protologue: Journ. Bot. 1: 182 (1863).

Synonyms

• Castanopsis brevicuspis (Miq.) A.DC. (1863),
• Castanopsis spectabilis (Miq.) A.DC. (1863),
• Castanopsis trisperma R. Scheffer (1870).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: berangan bukit (Peninsular).

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and intervening islands.

Uses

The wood is reputed to be used as berangan. The fruits are edible.

Observations

• A medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 36 m tall, bole up to 80 cm in diameter, often buttressed, bark surface smooth and peeling off profusely, yellowish to reddish-brown, inner bark fibrous, ochre.
• Leaves (9-)14-17(-25) cm × (4-)5-8(-10) cm, with (14-)16-17(-20) pairs of secondary veins, dull brown and densely covered with stellate scales below, sometimes also with 2-3-fid hairs.
• Cupule 2.5-3 cm × 3-4 cm, enclosing 1-3 fruits but these remaining visible on one side, densely fulvous or silvery hairy, more or less densely set with bundles of sturdy and more or less recurved spines, fruit adnate to the cupule for about one quarter of its surface.

C. costata grows in lowland to submontane forest up to 1800 m altitude. It has been erroneously regarded as conspecific with C. javanica by several authors.

Selected sources

78, 81, 99, 162, 234, 412, 673, 705. timbers

• See also Castanopsis (PROSEA Fruits) for the Fruit use.