Shorea guiso (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea guiso (Blanco) Blume

Protologue: Mus. Bot. Lugd.-Bat. 2: 34 (1852).

Synonyms

• Shorea vulgaris Pierre ex Lanessan (1886),
• Isoptera burckii Boerl. (1901).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: beraja, damar kenuar batu (Sumatra), damar tampih (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: balau, membatu (Peninsular), selangan batu merah (Sabah)
• Philippines: guijo (Tagalog), taralai (Tarlac), yamban-yamban (Zambales)
• Cambodia: choë(r) chông, phchök, kâm'-lé:ng
• Laos: chik dông, ningz, s'i:
• Thailand: teng-tani, phayom, (northern), chan ditaek (south-eastern), kalantan (peninsular)
• Vietnam: chò dồng, chò núi.

Distribution

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines.

Uses

The timber is used as red balau especially in the Philippines. Because of its comparatively low density, it cannot be used for the heaviest constructional purposes.

Observations

• A medium-sized to very large tree up to 60 m tall with cylindrical bole branchless for 15-25 m and up to 200(-300) cm in diameter with prominent buttresses up to 3 m high.
• Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 5.5-14 cm × 2.5-6 cm, thinly leathery, with (11-)15-19 pairs of secondary veins.
• Petals narrow, stamens 20-28, the appendages with few bristles.
• Fruit calyx lobes unequal, up to 5.5 cm × 1 cm, nut up to 8 mm × 5 mm.

S. guiso is most common in areas with a slightly seasonal climate. It occurs on well-drained red soils in lowland forest up to 600 m altitude, although it is confined to limestone hills in western and central Borneo. The density of the wood is 675-1000 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

31, 89, 175, 258, 297, 417, 444, 472, 476, 483, 497, 595, 628, 677, 748.

Main genus page

• Shorea (balau)

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)