Shorea laevis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea laevis Ridley

Protologue: Fl. Mal. Pen. 1: 232 (1922).

• Shorea laevifolia (Parijs) Endert (1935),
• Shorea rogersiana Raizada & Smitinand (1954),
• Shorea ciliata Ridley (1905) non King.

• Brunei: penapak, kumus
• Indonesia: bangkirai, balau tanduk (general), benuas (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: balau kumus (Peninsular), selangan kumus, mikai (Sarawak), selangan batu kumus (Sabah)
• Thailand: takhian-samphon (peninsular).

Peninsular Burma, peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, northern Sumatra and Borneo.

The wood is used as balau and sometimes traded separately as bangkirai. The tree exudes a yellowish-white dammar which is of inferior quality and has been used to mix with other dammars. The wood yields an excellent charcoal but is regarded as too valuable for this purpose.

• A vast and very large tree up to 75 m tall, bole branchless for 18-27 m and up to 210(-240) cm in diameter, with prominent buttresses of up to 6 m high.
• Leaves narrowly ovate-lanceolate, falcate, 6.5-10 cm × 2.5-4 cm, thinly leathery, with 11-14 pairs of secondary veins not prominent on either surface.
• Petals short, oblong, stamens c. 50, the appendages densely barbate.
• Fruit calyx lobes unequal, larger three up to 6.5 cm × 1.0 cm.

S. laevis is a widespread, often common or even gregarious species, occurring on well-drained soils with a preference for ridges at (0-)200-1000(-1200) m altitude. The density of the wood is very variable and ranges from 600-1160 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

30, 89, 100, 102, 159, 253, 258, 297, 374, 417, 446, 461, 476, 628, 677, 748.

• Shorea (balau)

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)