Toona calantas

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Toona calantas
Toona calantas (Philippine mahogany) - 3.jpeg
Toona calantas leaf and bark
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Toona
Species:
T. calantas
Binomial name
Toona calantas

Toona calantas is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It is threatened by habitat loss. [1] It is commonly known as kalantas (also spelled calantas), lanipga (in Visayan and Bikol), [2] ample (in Batanes), [2] bantinan (in Cagayan and Mountain Province), [2] danupra (in Zambales and Ilocos Norte), [2] Philippine cedar, or Philippine mahogany (although the latter is also applied to members of the unrelated genus Shorea ). [3]

Contents

Description and phenology

The kalantas tree can grow up to 25 metres (82 ft) and can measure up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in diameter. [4] The color of the bark ranges from yellowish to dark brown and the inner bark is light brown [2] while trunk is straight and terete. [4] The leaves can be described as compound, alternate oblong or broadly lanceolate [ clarification needed ]. [4] The fruit of the kalantas tree is a capsule that can be ellipsoid or oblongoid that measures 3–4 centimetres (1.2–1.6 in) long. [2]

Flowering occurs from June to August while fruiting occurs from September to November. [5] In Mount Makiling, Laguna, Philippines, seed gathering takes place from February to March. [5]

Distribution, importance and conservation status

Generally scattered all over the Philippines particularly in the Balabac group of islands, the kalantas tree can be found in the hills of a forest situated in low to medium altitudes. [4] The wood of the tree is used for making boxes, furniture or plywood. [4] [5] Kalantas has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Data Deficient [2] but it was reported that kalantas is exhausted due to logging and kaingin (a Tagalog term for slash-and-burn). [4] Reforestation efforts have been done in the Philippines and the kalantas tree is included in these efforts. [6] One of the efforts were done by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the term of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo where the president herself planted a seedling of a kalantas tree, [7] which is the favored tree promoted by the president. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Barstow, M. (2018). "Toona calantas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018 e.T32122A68105077. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T32122A68105077.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Kalantas". BINHI. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  3. ↑ ASEAN Tropical Plant Database. "Toona calantas Merr. & Rolfe". National Institute of Environmental Research, Republic of Korea. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kalantas". Cainta Plant Nursery. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  5. 1 2 3 Dayan, Maria dP.; Reaviles, Rosalinda S.; Bandian, Dolora B. (August 2007). "DENR Recommends Volume 15b INDIGENOUS FOREST TREE SPECIES IN LAGUNA PROVINCE" (PDF). rainforestation.ph.
  6. ↑ "Mining firm achieves high reforestation survival rate". INQUIRER.net. Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  7. ↑ "PGMA declares La Mesa Dam as a protected watershed". pcoo.gov.ph. Presidential Communications Operations Office. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  8. ↑ Codamon, Dan B. (2007-07-23). "PIA daily news in English, Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Waray, Pangalatok from around the Philippines". archives.pia.gov.ph. Philippine Information Agency . Retrieved 2021-07-19.
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