Shorea retinodes (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea retinodes v. Slooten

Protologue: Bull. Bot. Gard. Buitenzorg, ser. 3, 18: 243, f. 7-8 (1949).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: balamsarai, damar mansarai (western Sumatra), damar merilem (northern Sumatra).

Distribution

Sumatra.

Uses

The timber is used as white meranti. S. retinodes is an important source of a clear resin called "damar mata kucing".

Observations

• A large tree up to 55 m tall with bole branchless for 20-30(-35) m and buttresses up to 2 m high.
• Leaves narrowly elliptical to lanceolate, thinly leathery, 5.5-12 cm × 1.8-4.8 cm, with 15-18 pairs of secondary veins, lower surface coppery lepidote, petiole 12-20 mm long.
• Stamens 15, stylopodium absent.
• Larger fruit calyx lobes up to 7.5 cm × 1 cm.

S. retinodes is locally common on slopes up to 1000 m altitude. The density of the wood is 570-910 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

253, 344, 461, 743, 748.

Main genus page

• Shorea (white meranti)

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)