Dipterocarpaceae
(botany) A family of dicotyledonous plants in the order Theales having mostly stipulate, alternate leaves, a prominently exserted connective, and a calyx that is mostly winged in fruit.
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(botany) A family of dicotyledonous plants in the order Theales having mostly stipulate, alternate leaves, a prominently exserted connective, and a calyx that is mostly winged in fruit.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
chiefly tropical Asian trees with two-winged fruits; yield valuable woods and aromatic oils and resins
Synonym: family Dipterocarpaceae
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Anisoptera |
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 580-680 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees with two-winged fruits. The largest genera are Shorea (360 species), Hopea (105 species), Dipterocarpus (70 species), and Vatica (60 species). Many are large forest emergent species, typically reaching heights of 40-70 m tall, with the tallest known living specimen over 85 m tall. The species of this family are of major importance in the timber trade. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina and Malaysia, with the greatest diversity and abundance in western Malaysia. Some species are now endangered as a result of overcutting and extensive illegal logging. They provide valuable woods, aromatic essential oils, balsam, resins and as a source for plywood.
Because most specimens are illegally harvested, Greenpeace suggests that consumers avoid using meranti.[1]
The dipterocarp family is generally divided into three subfamilies:
A recent genetic study (Ducousso et. al. 2004) found that the Asian dipterocarps share a common ancestor with the Sarcolaenaceae, a tree family endemic to Madagascar. This suggests that ancestor of the Dipterocarps originated in the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and that the common ancestor of the Asian dipterocarps and the Sarcolaenaceae was found in the India-Madagascar-Seychelles land mass millions of years ago, and were carried northward by India, which later collided with Asia and allowed the dipterocarps to spread across Southeast Asia and Malaysia.
The following table associates tree species, wood name and wood color. The term Philippine red mahogany refers to the wood of trees belonging to the genera Shorea and Parashorea.
| Genus & section | Species | Wood name | Wood colour | Wood type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anisoptera | A. cochinchinensis, A. marginata, A. scaphula, A. thurifera and about ten other species | Mersawa | light hardwood | |
| Cotylelobium | C. burckii, C. lanceolatum, C. melanoxylon | Resak | heavy hardwood | |
| Dipterocarpus | D. alatus, D. baudii, D. basilanicus, D. borneensis, D. caudiferus, D. costulatus, D. grandiflorus, D. kerrii, D. tonkinensis, D. verrucosus, D. warburgii, and about 60 other species | Keruing | medium hardwood | |
| Dryobalanops | D. aromatica, D. camphora, D. junghunii, D. kayanensis, D. lanceolata, D. oblongifolia, D. sumatrensis | Kapur, Kapor | medium hardwood | |
| Hopea | H. acuminata, H. beccariana, H. dryobalanoides, H. mengarawan, H. nervosa, H. odorata, H. sangal and other species | Merawan | medium hardwood | |
| Hopea | H. ferrea, H. forbesii, H. helferi, H. nutans, H. semicuneata and other species | Giam | heavy hardwood | |
| Neobalanocarpus | N. heimii | Cengal | heavy hardwood | |
| Parashorea | P. aptera, P. buchananii, P. chinensis, P. densiflora, P. globosa, P. lucida, P. macrophylla, P. malaanonan, P. parvifolia, P. smythiesii, P. stellata, P. tomentella | Gerutu | light hardwood | |
| Parashorea | Parashorea plicata | Bagtikan | grey-brown | |
| Shorea (Pentacme) | S. contorta, S. minandensis | White Lauan | grey to very light red | |
| Shorea sect. Shorea | S. atrinervosa, S. brunnescens, S. crassa, S. exelliptica, S. foxworthyi, S. glauca, S. havilandii, S. laevis, S. leptoderma, S. materialis, S. maxwelliana, S. seminis, S. submontana, S. sumatrana, S. superba | Balau | heavy hardwood | |
| Shorea sect. Almon | S. almon, S. contorta, S. leprosula, S. leptoclados, S. smithiana | Almon | light red to pink | |
| Shorea sect. Anthoshorea | S. assamica, S. assamica, S. bracteolata, S. dealbata, S. hypochra, S. javanica, S. lamellata, S. maranti | White Meranti | light hardwood | |
| Shorea sect. Richetia | S. acuminatissima, S. faguetiana, S. gibbosa, S. hopeifolia, S. multiflora | Yellow Meranti | light hardwood | |
| Shorea sect. Rubroshorea | S. curtisii, S. hemsleyana, S. macrantha, S. pauciflora, S. platyclados, S. rugosa, S. singkawang, 4 other spp. | Dark red Meranti (Meranti bukit) | light hardwood | |
| S. acuminata, S. dasyphylla, S. johorensis, S. lepidota, S. parvifolia | Light red Meranti | light hardwood | ||
| Shorea balangeran, Shorea collina, Shorea guiso, Shorea kunstleri, Shorea ochrophloia, [[Shorea plagata | Red Balau | heavy hardwood | ||
| Shorea | Shorea macroptera | Melantai | light hardwood | |
| Shorea | Shorea negrosensis | Red Lauan | dark red-brown to brick red | |
| Shorea | Shorea ovata | Tianong | light red to light red-brown | |
| Shorea | Shorea platyclados | Meranti Bukit | light hardwood | |
| Shorea | Shorea polysperma | Tanguile | red to red-brown | |
| Shorea | Shorea robusta | Sal | ||
| Shorea | Shorea squamata | Mayapis | light red to red-brown | |
| Shorea | Shorea uliginosa | Meranti Bakau | light hardwood |
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