''Aquilaria'' is a genus of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family (biology), family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Webs ...

. It includes 21 species native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China, Malaysia,

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

, Bangladesh, the Philippines,

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and New Guinea. The trees grow to tall. The leaves are alternate, long and broad, with a short acuminate apex and an entire margin. The flowers are yellowish-green, produced in an umbel; the fruit is a woody capsule long. The genus is best known, together with '' Gyrinops'', as the principal producer of the

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

-suffused

agarwood Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from , ), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small Woodworking, hand carvings. It forms in the heartwood of ...

used in aromatic incense production, especially '' Aquilaria malaccensis''.Ng, L.T., Chang Y.S. and Kadir, A.A. (1997) "A review on agar (gaharu) producing Aquilaria species" ''Journal of Tropical Forest Products'' 2(2): pp. 272-285Barden, Angela (2000) ''Heart of the Matter: Agarwood Use and Trade and CITES Implementation for Aquilaria malaccensis'' TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, The depletion of wild trees from indiscriminate cutting for agarwood has resulted in the trees being listed and protected as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

.Broad, S. (1995) "Agarwood harvesting in Vietnam" ''TRAFFIC Bulletin'' 15:96 Projects are currently underway in some countries in southeast Asia to infect cultivated ''Aquilaria'' trees artificially to produce agarwood in a sustainable manner. In Indonesia, for example, there have been proposals to encourage the planting of gahara, as it is known locally, in eastern Indonesia, particularly in the province of Papua.Theresia Sufa,
Gaharu: Indonesia's endangered fragrant wood'
''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...

'', 2 February 2010.

Species

21 species are accepted. *'' Aquilaria apiculata'' *''

Aquilaria baillonii ''Aquilaria'' is a genus of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. It includes 21 species native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the rainforests of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, s ...

'' *'' Aquilaria banaensae'' *'' Aquilaria beccariana'' *''

Aquilaria brachyantha ''Aquilaria'' is a genus of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. It includes 21 species native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the rainforests of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, s ...

'' *''

Aquilaria citrinicarpa ''Aquilaria'' is a genus of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. It includes 21 species native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the rainforests of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, s ...

'' *'' Aquilaria crassna'' *'' Aquilaria cumingiana'' *'' Aquilaria filaria'' *'' Aquilaria grandiflora'' *'' Aquilaria hirta'' *'' Aquilaria khasiana'' *'' Aquilaria malaccensis'', (synonyms ''A. agallocha'' and ''A. secundaria'') *'' Aquilaria microcarpa'' *'' Aquilaria parvifolia'' *'' Aquilaria rostrata'' *'' Aquilaria rugosa'' *'' Aquilaria sinensis'' *'' Aquilaria subintegra'' *'' Aquilaria urdanetensis'' – Philippines *'' Aquilaria yunnanensis''

References

{{Authority control Thymelaeoideae Thymelaeaceae genera Taxa described in 1788 Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck