Palaquium

Palaquium is a genus of about 120 species of trees in the Sapotaceae family. Their range is from India across Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia and Australasia, to the western Pacific Islands.

Description

Within their range, Palaquium species are mostly found in the Philippines and Borneo. In Borneo many species are recorded in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The leaves are typically spirally arranged and often clustered near twig ends. Flowers are mostly bisexual, though some unisexual instances are known. Fruits are one or two-seeded with rare instances of several seeds. Palaquium habitats are coastal, lowland mixed dipterocarp, swamp and montane forests.

Some species, for example Palaquium gutta, are well known for producing gutta-percha latex.

Species

As of November 2013 The Plant List recognises 120 accepted species: