Parashorea malaanonan
Also known as: White lauan (trade name, shared with related species) · White seraya (Sabah trade name)
Definition
Parashorea malaanonan is a species of large emergent tree in the dipterocarp family Dipterocarpaceae, native to the Philippines and the northeast coast of Sabah in Borneo; its species name comes from a Tagalog vernacular name. Reaching up to about 60 meters in height, it grows in mixed dipterocarp forest on deep friable clay soils, and its timber is marketed internationally as white lauan or white seraya.
Identities (Wikipedia/Wikidata/DBpedia)
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parashorea_malaanonan
- Wikidata: Q2371664
- DBpedia: N/A
Also Known As
- White lauan (trade name, shared with related species)
- White seraya (Sabah trade name)
Examples and Analogies
The species illustrates a recurring confusion in Philippine timber: the trade name white lauan covers both this Parashorea and the true white lauan, Shorea contorta, so a board labeled white lauan may come from botanically different trees, much as Philippine mahogany is a trade label for several lauan-group dipterocarps rather than true mahogany.
Usage Scenarios
Its light hardwood goes into plywood, veneer, moldings, and general construction, while the living tree matters ecologically as an emergent that towers over the canopy, fruiting in mast years that feed and regenerate the whole forest community.
Strategies
Conservation planning combines retention of seed trees in production forests, protection of stands in reserves such as those on Sabah’s east coast where it is still secure, and research on flowering cycles that determine when nursery collection of seed can succeed.
Security and Safety Measures
Timber harvest requires licenses under national forest law, and vulnerable-status assessments support including remaining stronghold forests in protected-area networks to prevent the habitat loss that has eliminated the species across much of its Philippine range.
Historical Context
The tree entered scientific nomenclature through the collection and naming of Philippine dipterocarps in the colonial botanical era, when the country’s astonishing dipterocarp diversity was first organized into the genera that modern forestry and conservation still use.
Challenges and Controversies
Outside its remaining strongholds it is threatened by habitat loss, and the blurred trade identity of white lauan means consumers cannot easily distinguish legally sourced wood from timber taken from declining stands, complicating certification efforts.