Shorea peltata belongs to the family Dipterocarpaceae and is a member of Meranti Damar Hitam group. It is locally known as meranti telepok in Peninsular Malaysia while in Sabah, it is called seraya kuning keladi. Telepok in the vernacular name refers to its leaves that are peltate like those of the lotus.

This species is found in eastern Sumatra, western Borneo (Sabah) and Peninsular Malaysia (Johor), clearly having a disjunct distribution. It occurs gregariously in the lowland forests in northeastern of Johor. In Sabah, the population of S. peltata occurs on leached clay soils.

Shorea peltata is a small-sized dipterocarp. It has no buttressed and has a small bole with a maximum girth of 60 cm. Its bark is brown with light patches and warty portions from which exude a small amounts of dammar yellow in colour. This species is clearly distinguished by its peltate leaves on which there are 8 nerves. The flower is yellow, small and very narrow in bud. Unlike most dipterocarps, the fruit has no wings.

Even though S. peltata has no potential value in the timber industry, this species is threatened by land conversion activities. According to Malaysia Plant Red List (Chua et al, 2010), S. peltata is categorized as Critically Endangered (CR B2ab(iii)) for Malaysia; it is Endangered (EN B1ab(iii)) in Peninsular Malaysia while in Sabah, is Critically Endangered (CR B2ab(iii)). Resulting from this, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in collaboration with Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM) are undertaking ex situ and in situ conservation measures through on-site High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) in Tenggaroh FR and germplasm collection.