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DIPTEROCARPS

Introduction
 
Dipterocarps are members of the family Dipterocarpaceae, locally known as the “Damar” family. “Damar' is a Malay word which means resin. All dipterocarps produce resin when injured. The word “dipterocarp” is derived from Greek ( di means two; ptero means wing and carpus means fruit), and means “two winged fruit”. It refers to the typical structure of the fruit of Dipterocarpus , the genus after which the family Dipterocarpaceae is named. Dipterocarpaceae consists of 17 genera and approximately 680 species. The largest genera are Shorea (360 species), Hopea (105 species), Dipterocarpus (70 species), and Vatica (60 species). Many are large emergent trees, typically reaching heights of 40-70 m tall, with the tallest known living specimen over 85 m tall. The species of this family are of major importance in the timber trade. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina and South-east Asia. The highest diversity of dipterocarps is found in the western part of South-east Asia.
 
The two-winged fruit of Dipterocarpus grandiflorus (Keruing Belimbing)
The dipterocarp family is divided into three subfamilies:
  • Monotoideae : consists of 3 genera, 30 species. Marquesia is native to Africa. Monotes consists of 26 species, and is distributed across Africa and Madagascar. Pseudomonotes is native to the Colombian Amazon.
  • Pakaraimoideae : contains a single species, Pakaraimaea roraimae , found in the Guaianan highlands of South America.
  • Dipterocarpoideae : is the largest subfamily. It contains 13 genera and about 600 species. Distribution includes the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, India, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, but mostly in the western part of South-east Asia, where they are dominant in lowland forests.

There are 182 species of dipterocarps in Sabah, or 30 percent of the total number of dipterocarp species in the world. 70 percent of the forest in Sabah, mainly in the lowland up to 500 m above sea level was dominated by dipterocarps. The large trees in Dipterocarp forest are mainly dipterocarp species. Of the 17 dipterocarp genera, 9 are found in Sabah, namely Anisoptera (this group is locally known as ‘Pengiran'), Cotylelobium (locally known as ‘Resak Tempurong'), Dipterocarpus (locally known as ‘Keruing'), Dryobalanops (locally known as ‘Kapur'), Hopea (locally known as ‘Selangan'), Parashorea ( locally known as ‘Urat Mata'), Shorea (locally known as ‘Selangan Batu', and ‘Seraya', which can be further divided into three groups: Red Seraya, Yellow Seraya and White Seraya or Melapi), Upuna (locally known as ‘Upun') and Vatica (locally known as ‘Resak').

The forest in Kebun Cina is an example of dipterocarp forest in Sabah. There are about 34 dipterocarp species in Kebun Cina (19 percent of the total species in Sabah). Among the common dipterocarp species in Kebun Cina are ‘Keruing bulu' ( Dipterocarpus stellatus ), ‘Banjutan' ( Shorea multiflora ) and ‘Seraya timbau'( Shorea smithiana ).
 

Banjutan: A Common Yellow Seraya in Kebun Cina
 

‘Banjutan' is the local name of Shorea multiflora , one of the yellow seraya species found in Kebun Cina. This species occurs from the lowland up to about 600 m altitude, especially on coastal hill slopes and along ridges of medium altitude. It is often found on poor soil.

The flaky-scaly bark grading to yellow towards the cambium, and the small leaves with clear net-like venation are the diagnostic characters of ‘Banjutan'.

 
Line drawing of the fruit (bottom left) and leafy twig of ‘Banjutan'
Carpet of ‘ Banjutan' seedlings on the forest floor under the mother tree. This phenomenon is very common in Kebun Cina especially on the ridges where ‘ Banjutan' is common.
The flaky-scaly bark of ‘Banjutan'

 

The information provided above is based on the poster(s) displayed at Kebun Cina Gallery.

Click the following link(s) to view the poster(s).

 

  
     
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