This collection consists of trees which are of economic importance to the timber industry in tropical Asia. However, they have become rarer due to uncontrolled logging in the past.
Trees from the Dipterocarpaceae family are among the tallest tree species in Asia. They flower infrequently during supra–annual masting. This occurs with this group of plants, where a species produces abundant fruit in a year, followed by two to six years of less fruit. The wood from trees in this family includes hardwood timber of a very high quality. These include popular wood types such as Meranti (Shorea spp.), Merawan (Hopea spp.), and Keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.). Though common names such as Meranti, Balau, Chengal, Resak and Kapur are used in the timber trade, different common names are used in different regions of Southeast Asia.
Typically, dipterocarp flowers are small, except for those of certain Dipterocarpus species. Though dipterocarp “two-winged fruit” , Dipterocarp trees can be distinguished by the number of “wings” on their fruit, which range from two to five.[2]
[1] Source: LaFrankie, JR. James V, Trees of Tropical Asia, An illustrated guide to diversity, blog.nus.edu.sg.
[2] Source: rainforestjournal.com
