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Dipterocarpus alatus
Dipterocarpaceae FAMILY Endangered

Dipterocarpus alatus

Dipterocarpus alatus

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The dust of the wood causes boils[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of the lowland tropics where it is found at elevations up to 500 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 32°c, though it can tolerate 10 - 36°c[2]. It can be killed at temperatures of 5°c[2]. According to one report, it prefers a mean annual rainfall of 1,100 - 2,200mm, uniformly spread through the year[3]. Another report says it has a preferred rainfall of 3,500 - 4,500mm, but can tolerate 3,000 - 5,200mm[2]. The plant, especially when young, is very tolerant to shade and seedlings can survive under heavy shade for years[3]. As trees grow older, they become more light-demanding[4]. Found mainly on alluvial soils in the wild[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.5 - 7[2]. Members of this genus generally only regenerate naturally in the shade of the forest. Seedlings and saplings can persist in dense forest shade for many years. In their first 2 years the young plants cannot tolerate major openings in the canopy, but after they are well established (about 120cm tall) the canopy can be opened up around them to speed up their growth[5]. Annual production of oleoresin per tapped tree is between 23 and 31 litres[1]. Trees have a thin bark and are very sensitive to damage by fire[3].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short viability and so should be sown as soon as it is ripe[3]. No pre-treatment is required. Sow the seeds in a nursery seedbed, germination usually commences within 4 - 7 days at 25°c[1, 3]. Seedlings are ready to plant out when they are 30cm tall, which takes about 8 - 12 months[3]. Seed storage behaviour is intermediate, the lowest safe moisture content is 17 %, no seeds survive further desiccation to 8 % moisture content[1]. At 12 % moisture content, only 36 % germination occurred after 939 days hermetic storage at -18°c compared to 80 % viability before storage[1]. Cuttings taken from coppice shoots produced after hedging rooted successfully with 44.5% rooting, indicating the potential for mass production of rooted cuttings from hedge orchards[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dipterocarpus+alatus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]Seed Leaflets — Various · Forest & Landscape. Denmark · http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/Publikationer/Udgivelser/PopulaerPublikationer.aspx?katid={D28373CC-6EF3-4EF8-B097-6D83FABF209E}&serieid={9F1C3DB1-6E7B-4CF1-AF53-F480B0CB40EF}&sort=title ↩︎A series of leaflets, jointly produced by the University of Copenhagen and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, focussing on seed information for a number species, but also giving a lot of other information about each plant.
  4. [4]Trees of Laos and Vietnam - A Field Guide to 100 species. — Hoang Van Sam; Khamseng Nanthavong; Kessler P.J.A. · Blumea · 2004 ↩︎A detailed guide, with excellent line-drawings, to 100 of the more important trees of Laos and Vietnam. A very good work, giving lots of information about each plant. Originally published in the journal Blumea, it is available as a PDF on the Interne
  5. [5]Digital Compendium of Forestry Species of Cambodia — www.digitalspecies.blogspot.com; Phnom Penh · 2008 · http://www.digitalspecies.blogspot.com ↩︎A very detailed booklet, produced in PDF format on the internet, giving information on around 100 species of trees.
  6. [6]Trees Commonly Cultivated in SE Asia — Jensen. M. · FAO Regional Office, Bangkok. · 1999 · ISBN 974-89377-5-5 ↩︎
  7. [7]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  8. [8]A Manual of Indian Timbers. — Gamble. J. S. · Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh · 1972 · ISBN - ↩︎First written in the 19th century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]The Commercial Products of India. — Watts. Sir George. · John Murray, London. · 1908 ↩︎A classic, with a comprehensive (as then known) listing of useful plants that were traded commercially at that time. It can be downloaded from various sites on the Internet.
  10. [10]Vegetable Gums and Resins. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · ISBN 81-88818-17-8 ↩︎A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.
  11. [11]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.