''Shorea parvifolia'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of tree in the family

Dipterocarpaceae Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...

, commonly known as light red meranti and white lauan. It is native to tropical southeastern Asia.

Description

''Shorea parvifolia'' develops into a large forest tree up to tall with a wide crown. The trunk can grow to a diameter of with large buttresses up to high, but most of the largest trees have been selectively logged, leaving behind more modest specimens.

Distribution and habitat

''Shorea parvifolia'' is native to

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. It is one of the commonest dipterocarp species in lowland forests in the region, growing at elevations of up to . It grows on both clayey and sandy soils, in swampy areas and riverbanks, and on drier hillsides and ridges.

Ecology

This tree flowers in an irregular cycle lasting three to seven years, with all the trees flowering simultaneously. Pollination is mostly performed by

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s and

thrips Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

. The fruits have wings but mostly land within of the parent tree. When the seeds falls on fallow land, the saplings do not at first grow as fast as the pioneer species such as '' Macaranga''. However the saplings are shade tolerant, and after thirty years, ''Shorea parvifolia'' and ''

Pentace laxiflora ''Pentace laxiflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae ''sensu lato'' or Tiliaceae. It is a tree endemic to Borneo. Its conservation status has been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of l ...

'' dominate the other tree species. The tree roots form

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobi ...

relationships with a variety of soil fungi.

Uses

The timber is pink or pinkish-brown with white resinous streaks. It is typically used for panelling, joinery, light carpentry, furniture, plywood, crates, boxes, veneers and other purposes.

Status

''Shorea parvifolia'' has a wide range and is a common species. It is under threat from selective logging of the best trees, which may reduce the genetic diversity of the population, and from clearance of forests to make way for palm oil and other plantations. Nevertheless, it is listed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

as it does not currently meet the criteria for a more threatened category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17572561 parvifolia Trees of Sumatra Trees of Peninsular Malaysia Dipterocarps of Borneo Flora of the Borneo lowland rain forests Trees of Thailand