''Madhuca kuchingensis'' is a tree in the family
Sapotaceae. It is named for the city of
Kuching
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...
in
Borneo.
[
]
Description
''Madhuca kuchingensis'' grows up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is greyish brown. Inflorescences bear up to eight flowers. The fruits are yellowish, ellipsoid, up to long.[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Madhuca kuchingensis'' is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp and ''kerangas
The Sundaland heath forest, also known as ''Kerangas'' forest, is a type of tropical moist forest found on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as on the Indonesian islands of Belitung and Bangk ...
'' forests from altitude.[
]
Conservation
''Madhuca kuchingensis'' has been assessed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The species is threatened by logging and conversion of land to palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
plantations.
References
kuchingensis
Endemic flora of Borneo
Trees of Borneo
Plants described in 2001
{{Sapotaceae-stub