Durio dulcis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Durio dulcis Becc.

Protologue: Malesia 3: 243, t. 19 (1889).

Family: Bombacaceae

• Durio conicus Becc. (1889).

• Indonesia, Malaysia (Borneo): lahong, layung, durian bala (Dayak), durian merah (Malay), durian bala (Kenya-Dyak), durian isa (Iban), pesasang (Tidung).

Borneo (Sabah, Kalimantan), occasionally also cultivated for the fruits.

The wood is reputed to be used. D. dulcis is probably one of the principal sources of durian timber in Sarawak. The aril around the seed is edible and very sweet and fragrant.

• A fairly large tree up to 40 m tall, with bole up to 80 cm in diameter having large buttresses up to 4 m high, bark surface rough, superficially fissured or irregularly flaky, reddish-brown.
• Leaves elliptical or obovate-elliptical, 7-14 cm × 3.5-6 cm, densely scaly below.
• Flowers in short inflorescence clustered on older branches, petals up to 45 mm long, pink, stamens in bundles, opening by a slit.
• Fruit a globose capsule, up to 15 cm diameter, dark red to red-brown, with slender 15-20 mm long spines, very strong smelling.
• Seeds brown, each completely covered by a dark yellow aril.

D. dulcis occurs in lowland forest up to 800 m altitude; it is rather common, but found scattered in mixed dipterocarp forest on sandy clay soils and friable clay loams. The heartwood is pink to dark red-brown.

• Kostermans, A.J.G.H., 1958. The genus Durio Adans. (Bombacaceae). Reinwardtia 4: 357-460.

• Tankard, G., 1987. Exotic tree fruit for the Australian home garden. Recent rare fruit discoveries in Malaysian Borneo. Thomas Nelson Australia, Melbourne, Victoria. pp. 117-125.

26, 77, 312, 576, 673. timbers

• P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen