Dipterocarpus obtusifolius (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Dipterocarpus obtusifolius Teijsm. ex Miq.

Protologue: Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd.-Bat. 1: 214 (1863).

Synonyms

• Dipterocarpus vestitus Wallich ex Dyer (1874),
• Dipterocarpus punctulatus Pierre (1889).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: keruing beludu, atoi (Peninsular)
• Burma: in bo, in byu, in hmwe sok
• Cambodia: (daëm) thbaèng, thbaèng ba:y sra:, thbaèng snaèng
• Laos: (maiz) s'a:d
• Thailand: yang-hiang (general), krat (Thai, northern), ko satiang (Lua, peninsular)
• Vietnam: dầu trà beng.

Distribution

Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The timber is used as keruing.

Observations

• A small to medium-sized deciduous tree of up to 30 m tall, bole often of poor form, up to 20 m long, up to 80 cm in diameter, bark surface deeply fissured, greyish-brown; buds lanceolate, pale fulvous to buff hirsute or glabrous.
• Leaves broadly ovate, 14-22 cm × 10-16 cm, base obtuse or subcordate, apex obtuse or subacute, prominently plicate, crenate in the distal half, secondary veins 14-20 pairs, ascending, petiole 2.5-4 cm long, stipules lorate, obtuse, outside tomentose.
• Stamens about 30.
• Fruit calyx tube subglobose, smooth, glabrescent, 2 larger fruit calyx lobes up to 15 cm × 3 cm, 3 shorter ones up to 15 mm × 10 mm.

D. obtusifolius is a characteristic and frequently gregarious, fire-resistant tree in dry dipterocarp or bamboo forest. In Indo-China a glabrous form is distinguished and called var. subnudus Ryan & Kerr. The density of the wood is 750-900 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. A natural hybrid between D. obtusifolius and D. costatus has been observed in Thailand and Burma.

Selected sources

140, 235, 258, 628, 677, 748, 756.

Main genus page

• Dipterocarpus (Timbers)

Authors

• T. Smitinand (selection of species),
• C. Phengklai (selection of species),
• L.E. Groen (selection of species)