''Toona calantas'' is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It is commonly known as kalantas (also spelled calantas), lanipga (in

Visayan Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

and Bikol), ample (in

Batanes Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

), bantinan (in

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

and

Mountain Province Mountain Province is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as ''Mountain'' in some foreign references. The name is usually shor ...

), danupra (in

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon ...

and

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner o ...

), Philippine cedar, or Philippine mahogany (although the latter is also applied to members of the unrelated genus ''

Shorea Fruit of a ''Shorea'' species ''Shorea'' is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the governor-general of the British East India Company, 1793–1798. Th ...

'').

Description and phenology

The kalantas tree can grow up to and can measure up to in diameter. The color of the bark ranges from yellowish to dark brown and the inner bark is light brown while trunk is straight and

terete Terete is a term in botany Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises ...

. The leaves can be described as compound, alternate oblong or broadly

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regula ...

. The fruit of the kalantas tree is a capsule that can be ellipsoid or oblongoid that measures long. Flowering occurs from June to August while fruiting occurs from September to November. In

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

, Laguna, Philippines, collection of seeds are done from February to March.

Distribution, importance and conservation status

Generally scattered all over the Philippines particularly in the Balabac group of islands, the kalantas tree can be found in the hills of a forest situated in low to medium altitudes. The wood of the tree is used for making boxes, furniture or plywood. Kalantas has been

categorized Categorization is the ability and activity of recognizing shared features or similarities between the elements of the experience of the world (such as objects, events, or ideas), organizing and classifying experience by associating them to a ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

(IUCN) as Data Deficient but it was reported that kalantas is exhausted due to logging and ''kaingin'' (a

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

term for

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

). Reforestation efforts have been done in the Philippines and the kalantas tree is included in these efforts. One of the efforts were done by the Philippine

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

during the term of then

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

where the president herself planted a seedling of a kalantas tree, which is the favored tree promoted by the president.

Gallery

File:Toona calantas (Philippine mahogany) seeds - 6.jpeg, A single seed File:Toona calantas (Philippine mahogany) - 5.jpeg, The bark File:Toona calantas (Philippine mahogany) seeds - 1.jpeg, The seeds contained in a capsule File:Toona calantas (Philippine mahogany) - 3.jpeg, A new branch of the tree

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5504141 calantas Data deficient plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill Taxa named by Robert Allen Rolfe