Hopea acuminata
Definition
Hopea acuminata is a dipterocarp tree endemic to the Philippines, named for the long tapering tips — acuminate apices — of its leaves. It grows in lowland and hill forest across parts of Luzon and other Philippine islands.
Identities
| Source Type | Identity |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Hopea acuminata |
| Wikidata | Q5485759 |
| DBpedia | N/A |
Also Known As
A Philippine endemic Hopea; grouped with the yang-type light hardwoods in older forestry manuals.
Examples and Analogies
Its leaves drip-tip like tropical umbrellas: the drawn-out point channels rain off the blade, a small engineering trick shared by many rainforest plants that keeps leaf surfaces clean of spores and silt.
Usage Scenarios
- Minor fine-timber use under regulated harvest
- Reforestation and enrichment-planting trials using native species
- Botanical reference in keys to Philippine dipterocarps
Strategies
As a shade-tolerant native, the species suits under-canopy planting schemes that restore forest structure gradually rather than replacing it with exotics; protecting watershed remnants safeguards its natural regeneration cycles.
Security and Safety Measures
Its main vulnerabilities are habitat fire and illegal incidental cutting during operations targeting larger marketable species; habitat-level protection matters more than any single-tree measure.
Historical Context
Hopea acuminata was among the endemic dipterocarps recognized as nineteenth- and early twentieth-century botanists refined the taxonomy of Philippine rainforest trees from Luzon to Mindanao.
Challenges and Controversies
Its populations move with the fate of Philippine lowland forest; conservation assessments list it as threatened, and taxonomic overlap with allied Hopea species has historically complicated mapping its true distribution.
Related Topic
White Lauan (Shorea contorta) — a timber-classic Philippine dipterocarp of the same lowland forests where this Hopea occurs