Shorea geniculata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea geniculata Sym. ex P. Ashton

Protologue: Gard. Bull. Sing. 19: 291, pl. 19 (1962).

Vernacular names

• Brunei: upun penyau (Dusun)
• Malaysia: selangan penyau (Sarawak).

Distribution

Brunei and Sarawak.

Uses

The timber is used as balau. It is regarded as being the hardest and heaviest balau in Brunei.

Observations

• A large tree up to 50 m tall with bole up to 175 cm in diameter and prominent buttresses up to 3.5 m high.
• Leaves broadly ovate to suborbicular, 11-17 cm × 7-13 cm, with 9-11 pairs of secondary veins becoming black upon drying, lower surface cream lepidote, petiole 4-6 cm long.
• Petals narrow, stamens c. 55.
• Fruit calyx lobes equal, about 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm, nut large, up to 5 cm × 5 cm.

S. geniculata occurs very locally on deeply leached yellow soils in mixed dipterocarp forest on hills and ridges at low altitudes.

Selected sources

30, 89, 258, 748.

Main genus page

• Shorea (balau)

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)