''Dryobalanops'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s and the genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. The name ''Dryobalanops'' is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(''dryas'' = a nymph associated with oaks and ''balanops'' = acorn) and describes the acorn-like nut. The genus has seven species, confined to the tropical forests of West

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. ...

(Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo). It is among the most abundant species of

emergent Emergent may refer to: * ''Emergent'' (album), a 2003 album by Gordian Knot * Emergent (software), Neural Simulation Software * Emergent BioSolutions, a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA * Emerg ...

trees in these forests, growing up to 80 m tall. The genus is of considerable importance as timber trees and sold under the trade name Kapur. The timber is an important heavy and durable construction timber. ''D. aromatica'' was an important source of

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

. As the trees mature, they mutually avoid touching each other in a phenomenon known as

crown shyness Crown shyness (also ''canopy disengagement'', ''canopy shyness'', or ''inter-crown spacing'') is a phenomenon observed in some tree species, in which the crowns of fully stocked trees do not touch each other, forming a canopy with channel-like g ...

See also