Heritiera globosa

Botanical Description

Heritiera globosa is an evergreen tree with a dense canopy; it can grow 20 - 35 metres tall. The bole is usually short; it can be 100cm in diameter with ridge-like buttresses 250 - 350cm tall, extending snake-like for 200 - 400cm from the tree[ 1029 Title A Monograph of the Genus Heritiera, Aiton, (Sterculariaceae). Publication Reinwardtia Vol. 4, Part 4, pp 465 - 583 Author Kostermans A.J.G.H. Publisher Herbarium Bogoriense, Indonesia. Year 1959 ISBN Description Somewhat dated, but an excellent monograph of the genus Heritiera. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The tree is a source of 'mengkulang' timber and is commonly harvested from the wild for both local use and export. This species is very rare and restricted to West Kalimantan, where it is only found in riverine areas. It is threatened by continued loss of habitat due to clearing of mangrove forests for commercial timber and oil palm plantations. There has been an estimated 29% decline in mangrove area within this species range since 1980. As this species is only found along riverine areas, the total extent of occurance is estimated to be less than 5,000 km² and is very fragmented. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].