''Palaquium gutta'' is a tree in the family

Sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...

. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

' is from the Malay word ''getah'' meaning 'sap or latex'.

Description

''Palaquium gutta'' grows up to tall. The bark is reddish brown. Inflorescences bear up to 12 flowers. The fruits are round or ellipsoid, sometimes brownish tomentose, up to long.

Distribution and habitat

''Palaquium gutta'' is native to

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

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 habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp, '' kerangas'' and limestone forests.

Uses

The seeds of ''Palaquium gutta'' are used to make soap and candles, occasionally in cooking. The latex is used to make

gutta-percha Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae, which is primarily used to create a high-quality latex of the same name. The material is rigid, naturally biologically Chemically inert, inert, resilient, electrically n ...

. The timber is logged and traded as nyatoh.

Conservation

''Palaquium gutta'' has been assessed as Near Threatened on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

. The significant threat to the species is deforestation: in Borneo for conversion of land to palm oil cultivation.

References

gutta Trees of Sumatra Trees of Malaya Trees of Borneo Plants described in 1847 Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker {{Sapotaceae-stub