''Liquidambar cambodiana'', commonly known as ''sdey'', is a tree in the

Altingiaceae Altingiaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales, Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Altingiaceae". At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below) consisting of ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to south west

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Taxonomy

The species was originally named ''Altingia cambodiana'' in 1924 by the French botanist Paul Henri Lecomte (1856-1934). In 2013, US botanists Stefanie M. Ickert-Bond and

Jun Wen Jun Wen (, Born December 27, 1963) is an evolutionary biologist and curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in the Department of Botany and has worked in the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics. She researches the monogr ...

(born 1963) demonstrated that it was in the

family and ''

Liquidambar ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae ...

'' genus.

Description

The taxa grows as a tree from 8 to 10m tall. The species is differentiated from other ''Liquidambar'' by having leaves that are glossy on the upper surface and with margins that are distinctly revolute when dry.

Distribution

The tree is reported from 3 locations in the

Dâmrei Mountains The Dâmrei Mountains (literally the "Elephant Mountains", km, ភ្នំដំរី, Chuŏr Phnum Dâmrei), refer to a mountain range situated in south-western Cambodia, traversing around north-south as a succession of the Cardamom Mounta ...

of southwestern Cambodia. It was reported in the riparian forests in basalt areas (and perhaps more widely) of the Chuor Phnom Krâvanh/ Cardamon Mountains of western Cambodia, the tree dominates the riverbanks. However the botanist Ickert-Bond visited Bokor National Park around 2013, and for several days attempted to find specimens with no luck, and identified stands near the Pokovil waterfall in the Dâmrei Mountains as being a population of '' Liquidambar siamensis'' It grows from lowlands areas up to 500m in altitude.

Conservation

This plant has not been found in the last few decades. Therefore its conservation status has been described as Data Deficient. As it is only known from 3 archived specimens from one location it is believed that this taxa has a small population size, in an area with expanding tourism impacts and resource extraction.

Vernacular names

*''sdey'' (

Khmer language Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the Official language, official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pāli, Pali, especiall ...

)

Uses

The young leaves of the tree are eaten raw in salads, they are an appreciated food and are particularly eaten in the dish ''tük kröeung''. The wood is used to make tool handles.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17781621 cambodiana Edible plants Endemic flora of Cambodia Plants described in 2013