Shorea smithiana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shorea smithiana Sym.

Protologue: Gard. Bull. Str. Settl. 9: 345, pl. 26 (1938).

Vernacular names

• Brunei: berat (Murut), meraka belang, meranti rambai
• Indonesia: campega, kakan putih (East Kalimantan), meranti merumbung (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: meranti rambai (Sarawak), seraya timbau (Sabah).

Distribution

Northern and eastern Borneo.

Uses

The timber is one of the chief sources of light red meranti in north-eastern Borneo. The wood yields a light brown dammar of good quality.

Observations

• A very large tree up to 60 m tall with bole up to 160 cm in diameter, buttresses up to 2 m high.
• Leaves broadly obovate to oblong or ovate, 12-20 cm × 6.5-11.5 cm, base obtuse to subcordate, with 14-17 pairs of secondary veins, lower surface grey lepidote.
• Stamens 22-26, anthers broadly oblong with long appendages, stylopodium narrowly pear-shaped.
• Larger fruit calyx lobes up to 20 cm × 2.8 cm.

S. smithiana occurs on undulating land on deep yellow sandy clay soils up to 400 m altitude. The density of the wood is 300-720 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected sources

30, 100, 258, 461, 476, 514, 748.

Main genus page

• Shorea (red meranti)

Authors

M.S.M. Sosef (selection of species)