''Gyrinops'' is a genus of nine species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s, 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 ...

. They are native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. The genus ''Gyrinops'' is closely related to ''

Aquilaria ''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 ...

'' and in the past all species were considered to belong to ''Aquilaria.''

Agarwood production

Together with ''Aquilaria'' the genus is best known 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 ...

.Barden, Angela (2000) ''Heart of the Matter: Agarwood Use and Trade and CITES Implementation for Aquilaria malaccensis'' TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, 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. 272-285 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 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 as locally, in eastern Indonesia, particularly in the

province of Papua A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provin ...

.Theresia Sufa,
Gaharu: Indonesia's endangered fragrant wood'
''The Jakarta Post'', 2 February 2010.

Species

Nine species are accepted. *'' Gyrinops caudata'' *''

Gyrinops decipiens ''Gyrinops'' is a genus of nine species of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. The genus ''Gyrinops'' is closely related to ''Aqui ...

'' *'' Gyrinops ledermanii'' *'' Gyrinops moluccana'' *''

Gyrinops podocarpa ''Gyrinops'' is a genus of nine species of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. The genus ''Gyrinops'' is closely related to ''Aqui ...

'' *'' Gyrinops salicifolia'' *'' Gyrinops versteegii'' *'' Gyrinops vidalii'' *''

Gyrinops walla ''Gyrinops'' is a genus of nine species of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. The genus ''Gyrinops'' is closely related to ''Aqui ...

References

Thymelaeoideae Thymelaeaceae genera Taxa described in 1791 Taxa named by Joseph Gaertner {{Thymelaeaceae-stub