Fruit of a ''Shorea'' species ''Shorea'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 47

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of mainly

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

trees in the family

Dipterocarpaceae Dipterocarpaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India ...

. The

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

of trees of the genus is sold under the common names lauan, luan, lawaan, meranti, seraya, balau, bangkirai, and Philippine mahogany.

Description

The tallest documented tropical

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

is a '' Shorea faguetiana'' found in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, in

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 ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

(

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 ...

). In Sabah's Tawau Hills National Park, at least five other species of the genus have been measured to be over tall: '' S. argentifolia'', '' S. gibbosa'', '' S. johorensis'', '' S. smithiana'', and '' S. superba''. Borneo is also the hotspot of ''Shorea'' diversity with 138 species, of which 91 are

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.Ashton, P. S. "Dipterocarpaceae". In ''Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak,'' Volume 5, 2004. Soepadmo, E.; Saw, L. G. and Chung, R. C. K. eds. Government of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Reproduction

The majority of ''Shorea'' spp. are general flowering species, which is an event occurring at irregular intervals of 3–10 years, in which nearly all dipterocarp species together with species of other families bloom heavily. General flowering is thought to have evolved to satiate seed predators and/or to facilitate pollination. Both explanations apparently hold merit. Flowering is thought to be triggered by droughts that occur during transition periods from La Niña to El Niño. The magnitude of a flowering event is suggested to be dependent on the timing of the droughts associated with the El Niño southern oscillation cycle, with the largest events occurring after an interval of several years with no flowering. ''Shorea'' spp. are insect pollinated. A variety of insects have been identified as pollinators, with species within the sections of ''Shorea'' sharing the same insect pollinators. Flowering within a section is sequential within one habitat and species association to prevent competition for pollinators. Seed predation and mortality have an impact on the reproduction process of dipterocarps such as ''Shorea''. In Singapore, crab-eating macaque and

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

larvae are known seed predators.

Taxonomy

''Shorea'' fossils (linked with the modern sal, ''S. robusta'', which is still a dominant tree species in Indian forests) are known from as early as the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They are identifiable by the

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

fossils formed by their dammar resin. Other fossils include a

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

-aged fossilized fruit from the same region; this fruit most closely resembles the extant '' S. macroptera'' of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

Sections and selected species

;'' Anthoshorea'' * '' Shorea agamii'' P.S.Ashton ;''Brachypterae'' * '' Shorea smithiana'' Symington ;'' Doona'' * '' Shorea zeylanica'' (Thwaites) P.S.Ashton ;''Mutica'' * '' Shorea argentifolia'' Symington * '' Shorea parvifolia'' Dyer ;''Neohopea'' * '' Shorea isoptera'' P.S.Ashton ;''Ovalis'' * '' Shorea ovalis'' (Korth.) Blume ;''Pachycarpae'' * '' Shorea macrophylla'' (de Vriese) P.S.Ashton ;'' Pentacme'' * '' Shorea siamensis'' Miq. ;''Richetioides'' * '' Shorea richetia'' Symington ;''Rubella'' * '' Shorea albida'' Symington ;''Shorea'' * '' Shorea guiso'' (Blanco) Blume ;Not placed * '' Shorea robusta'' C.F.Gaertn. (sal tree) * '' Shorea thorelii'' Pierre ex Laness.

Etymology

The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the governor-general of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, 1793–1798.

Distribution and habitat

''Shorea'' spp. 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 ...

, from northern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and 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 ...

. In west

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

and the Philippines, this genus dominates the skyline of the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Conservation

Of the 148 species of ''Shorea'' currently listed on the IUCN Redlist, most are listed as being

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

. Some concerns exist regarding the IUCN's listing of dipterocarps, as the criteria used to assess the level of threat are based mainly on animal population characteristics. This is thought to overstate the threat assessment, when applied to long-lived, habitat-specific organisms such as trees.

Uses

Many economically important

trees belong to ''Shorea''. They are sold under various trade names including "lauan", "lawaan", "meranti", "seraya", "balau", "bangkirai", and "Philippine mahogany". The "Philippine mahogany" sold in North America is not a true mahogany at all, but a mixture of woods from the genus ''Shorea''. Other products from ''Shorea'' spp. include dammar and illipe. Dammar is a resin collected from a variety of species. It varies in colour among the different taxonomic groups. '' Shorea wiesneri'' is listed in many websites as an important source of dammar; however, this appears to be either a trade name or a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. Borneo tallow nut oil is extracted from the egg-shaped, winged fruit of ''Shorea'' species.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Dipterocarpaceae genera Wood Flora of the Indomalayan realm