''Durio kinabaluensis'', also known as mountain durian and (locally) as durian tapuloh, is a forest tree in the

mallow family Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include cacao, cola, cotton, okra, roselle and durian. There are also some genera co ...

Description

The tree grows to 40 m in height with a 10–15 m

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

ed bole. The oval leaves are 10–16 cm long by 4–6 cm wide, with smooth uppersides, and with undersides covered with golden-brown scales and hairs. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s comprise clusters of 5–6 pink to reddish flowers along the branches. The greenish yellow to yellow fruits are 8–10 cm in diameter, covered with small conical spines and containing 3 cm-long brown seeds encased in an edible, cream to pale yellow

aril An aril (), also called arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode, or false aril, is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ova ...

Distribution and habitat

The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

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 ...

; its range is restricted to the

Crocker Range The Crocker Mountains () form a range that separates the West Coast and Interior divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. At an average height of , it is the highest mountain range in the state. It is named after a 19th century British administrator of ...

and

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, where it is found in hill forest and lower

mountain forest A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

at an elevation of 800–1300 m.

Usage

The species is sometimes planted in the vicinity of villages in the Crocker Range, with the fruits sold at roadside stalls.

References

External links

* kinabaluensis Endemic flora of Borneo Trees of Borneo Fruits originating in Asia Plants described in 1958 Taxa named by André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans {{Malvaceae-stub