Dipterocarpaceae FAMILY Critically Endangered

Dipterocarpus turbinatus

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree

Growth—

A plant of the moist tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 24 - 32°c, though it can tolerate 10 - 40°c^[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall of 2,500 - 3,500mm, tolerating 1,500 - 5,100mm^[1]. Young trees grow best in the shade of the forest, but become increasingly light-demanding as they grow larger^[1]. Prefers a medium to light, well-drained soil^[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 4.8 - 5.8, tolerating 4.3 - 6.5^[1]. The tree has proven relatively windfirm in tropical cyclone zones^[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^[2]. Trees are not resistant to forest fires^[1].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dipterocarpus+turbinatus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]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.
[2]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.
[3]The World List of Threatened Trees — Oldfield S.; Lusty C.; and MacKinven A. · World Conservation Press; Cambridge UK · 1998 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN 1-899628-10 X ↩︎A list of the trees on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plant Species in 1998, often giving some information on habitat and the reasons for being on the list. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
[4]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.
[5]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.
[6]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.