Shorea longisperma (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea longisperma Roxb.

Protologue: Fl. Indica (Carey ed.) 2: 618 (1832).

Synonyms

• Parashorea longisperma (Roxb.) Kurz (1870),
• Shorea resina-nigra Foxw. (1932).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: awang sih, kerambukuh (south-eastern Kalimantan), kepala tupe (eastern Sumatra)
• Malaysia: lun meranti (Sarawak), meranti damar hitam, senggai (Peninsular).

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, eastern Sumatra and Borneo.

Uses

The timber is used as yellow meranti. The sapwood produces a very dark dammar which is of little value but is sometimes used for torches and caulking boats.

Observations

• A very large tree up to 75 m tall with bole branchless for up to 30 m and up to 165 cm in diameter, with buttresses up to 5 m high.
• Leaves elliptical to ovate, 7-12 cm × 2.5-6 cm, papery, with 10-13 pairs of secondary veins, lower surface pale grey-green pubescent, petiole 10-15 mm long.
• Stamens 15, stylopodium pear-shaped.
• Larger fruit calyx lobes up to 9 cm × 1.5 cm.

S. longisperma occurs on fertile clay soils, especially on igneous and volcanic rocks up to 1400 m altitude. The density of the wood is 510-690 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

253, 258, 297, 417, 514, 601, 677, 748.

Main genus page

• Shorea (yellow meranti)

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)