Vatica sarawakensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Vatica sarawakensis Heim

Protologue: Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris 2: 970 (1891).

Synonyms

• Vatica ramiflora v. Slooten (1927).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: resak sarawak, resak daun besar (Sarawak, Sabah).

Distribution

Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, South and East Kalimantan).

Uses

The timber is sometimes used as resak.

Observations

• A small to medium-sized tree, up to 25 m tall but usually much less with straight bole up to 30 cm in diameter and small buttresses.
• Leaves oblong to obovate, large, 22-35 cm × 7-15 cm, with 15-28 pairs of secondary veins, sparsely hairy on veins beneath, petiole 10-20 mm long.
• Inflorescences many-branched, up to 12 cm long.
• Flower buds up to 8 mm long.
• Nut subglobose to ovoid, up to 25 mm long, verrucose, with 5 subequal fruit calyx lobes becoming reflexed.

V. sarawakensis occurs scattered in mixed dipterocarp forest on clayey soils in hills up to 1000 m altitude. Because of the small size of the trees, the timber is not much used; the density of the wood is 705-895 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.

Selected sources

30, 89, 100, 748.

Main genus page

• Vatica

Authors

• R.H.M.J. Lemmens (selection of species)