Hopea auriculata, locally known as merawan, belongs to the family Dipterocarpaceae. It has no specific vernacular name as it is a rare endemic species. H. auriculata is recorded from Panti Forest Reserve (Johor), Gunung Tapis (Pahang) and Pangkor Island (Perak) and is restricted to the hill forests and ridges between 250 and 650 m altitude.

This species is a small tree with a girth of less than 1.5 m and a smooth bark. It has a tall but poorly shaped bole with mottles of grey, brown and darker colours. Its buttress is rather sharp and tends to be stilted. A copious whitish oleo-resin is exuded when the bark is cut. The inner bark is about 8 mm thick while the sapwood is pale and slightly ripple marked.

The diagnostic characters of this species reside in the leaf and fruit. The leaf is lanceolate to acuminate, has about 9 nerves with an almost invisible tertiary veins. The fruit is auriculate at the base of the wings and has a size about 7 x 1.5 cm.

Under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2008), H. auriculata is categorized as Endangered (EN A1c, B1+2c). In this respect, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) recently initiated ex situ collection measures, as an initial step towards conserving the species. Wild populations are found in the Virgin Jungle Reserves of the South Pangkor and Panti Forest Reserves. Hopefully with the research and conservation efforts, H. auriculata will continue to survive and will not become extinct in the future.

By Suhaida Mustafa (suhaida@frim.gov.my)
Edited by Dr. Lillian Chua