The Dipterocarpaceae family consists of resinous hardwood species, which emit fragrant smell. There are nine genera in the family Dipterocarpaceae and among them is the genus Shorea (Symington, 2004 & Wyatt-Smith, 1999). The Latin name for Shorea commemorates Sir John Shore (1793-1798), who was the Governor-General for the British East India Company (Ashton, 2004). A species, Shorea sumatrana is distributed from Sumatra, Peninsular Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia. Hence, the species epithet, sumatrana refers to Sumatra, which was one of the locations where this plant was found (Flora & Fauna Web, 2022). In Peninsular Malaysia, it was recorded in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and in the east coast region (Yong et al., 2021). The species can be found in lowland dipterocarp forests in low-lying, frequently swamp habitats along the river bank and also on land subject to inundation on the banks of slow-flowing rivers (Symington, 2004). The species is locally known as sengkawang or balau sengkawang ayer in Malay language.
The main field identification character of the species is the peculiar fruit with sepals developed into woody lobes. They form a spreading rosette around the base with two inner lobes smaller than the other three outer lobes (Symington, 2004). The shape of the fruit is sub-globose. The flower has a weak smell with yellow linear petals and tinged red at the base inside. The leaves are dark green, elliptic-oblong and glaucous below with no hairy domatia in the axils of veins (Wyatt-Smith, 1999). Their stipules are linear-lanceolate that are falling early. The tree is medium-sized growing up to 30 m high. The bole is a clear length or twisted by having a thin outer bark and dull brown inner bark. The wood is used for heavy construction such as bridges, railway sleepers, powerline posts, wagons, and fence posts (Flora & Fauna Web, 2022).
The growth of this tree is medium fast and can be propagated through seeds. This tree is suitable to be used as a shade tree in parks and to decorate roads and highways (Adnan, 2003).
According to the Malaysia Plant Red List (Yong et al., 2021 & Chua et al., 2010), Shorea sumatrana was categorized as Near Threatened (NT) for Malaysia, and Endangered (EN) globally in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Pooma & Newman, 2017).
