''Planchonella villamilii'' (also called white nato) is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

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 ...

. It is a tree

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 ...

to the island of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, where it is commonly known as ''dolitan''. It is a large tree, growing up to 30 meters tall. It flowers in June and sets fruit in March, May, and September. It is native to lowland primary rainforest, and has been observed on Mount Mariveles in Bataan province,

Mount Makiling Mount Makiling (also spelled Maquiling) is an inactive stratovolcano located in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of above mean sea level and is the highest feat ...

in Laguna province, and in Cagayan Province on the island of

, and on Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte Province. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

from deforestation of its native forests for commercial timber, plantations, shifting agriculture, commodity agriculture, and urbanization. Some populations are within protected areas, including Wangag Watershed Forest Reserve, Siargao Protected Landscape/Seascape, and Mount Makiling Forest Reserve. The species is assessed as

Endangered 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 ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. The species was first described as ''Sideroxylon villamilii'' in 1915 by

Elmer Drew Merrill Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through ...

. In 2023 Ulf Swenson placed it in genus ''

Planchonella ''Planchonella'' is a genus of Flowering plant, flowering trees in the gutta-percha family (biology), family, Sapotaceae. Named in honour of Jules Émile Planchon, it was described by Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre. It contains around 110 mainly trop ...

'' as ''P. villamilii''.

References

villamilii Endemic flora of the Philippines Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1915 Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill {{Sapotaceae-stub