Agathis borneensis

Warb. (1900)

Common names

Borneo kauri, Malayan kauri (English); bindang (Sarawak); kayu buloh, bulok, bulu (Iban); tolong (Brunei); mengilan, tambunan (Sabah); dammar, dammar daging, dammar minyak, tulong (Malaya); hedje (Tapanuli); salang (Kendayah); manggilam (Dusun); bangalan, bengalan (Sampit, Pilau); toga (W Kutai); bembuëng (SE Borneo); nuju (Dajak); enghatan (Sanggan); pisau, putut (Sintang); bamboeng, bengalen, bindang, mengilan, pilan, tulong (Borneo) (Smythies 1965, Whitmore 1980, Silba 1986, de Laubenfels 1988).

Taxonomic notes

Type: A specimen collected by Beccari on Sarawak [locality not stated]. My references on this point conflict: Whitmore (1980) cites Beccari 491, isotypes at BO and K; Farjon (2010) cites Beccari 596, syntype K.

Synonyms: A. beccarii Warb.; A. dammara (Lamb.) Poir.; A rhomboidalis Warb.; A. latifolia Meijer Drees (1940); A. endertii Meijer Drees (1940).

Although it was recognized by de Laubenfels (1988), A. endertii, the most common synonym, was reduced to synonymy by both Whitmore (1980) and Farjon (2010) on grounds of overlapping characters and distribution. The relationship has not been evaluated using molecular methods. The name A. dammara has been applied to both A. dammara and A. borneensis; the former species is endemic to E Malesia and A. borneensis to W Malesia, with the division at about longitude 119° E (Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and Makassar Strait). See A. dammara for a lengthy explanation of the borneensis-dammara confusion.

Whitmore (1980) explains that Warburg described A. borneensis and A. beccarii at the same time, but for A. borneensis he provided a male specimen and a good drawing of the microsporophyll, while for A. beccarii he provided only a sterile specimen, with a female isotype for Kew. Thus the A. beccarii specimen does not display characters that allow it to be classified to species, and A. borneenesis becomes the type, with A. beccarii reduced to synonymy.

Description

Trees to 55 m tall and 3.5 m dbh. Mature trees follow the usual Agathis model of a long (20-30 m) clear bole with a broad emergent crown of large rigid first-order branches. Bark variable: grey, light brown, to black, finely dimpled to thinly scaly or rough, exfoliating thus with few epiphytes. Leaves sub-opposite, thick, coriaceous, light green, highly variable even on a single tree, more or less elliptic, acute on young trees, 2.5-14 cm long, generally larger on younger than on mature trees, about 3-10 times as long as wide. Pollen cones axillary, solitary on a stout, 1-2(-5) mm (Malaya and Borneo) or (4-)10 mm (Sumatra) peduncle; ovoid-cylindrical at anthesis, 30-40 × 14-18 mm; ultimately becoming dark brown flexible cylinders, 20 × 50 to 40 × 90 mm. Basal bracts forming a loose flattened cupule adpressed to cone and usually smaller but rarely enclosing it, occasionally cone extending downwards so obscuring the cupule. Microsporophylls large; as seen in intact cone at anthesis strongly imbricate, 4-5 mm across, with a clearly demarcated, erose, usually pale, chartaceous margin; head in adaxial view 5-6 mm across × 4-5 mm radially, often extending axially as 2 truncated wings tipped by anthers; anthers 4-10. Seed cones solitary on thick peduncles, ellipsoid to globose, 10-13 cm across at maturity, resinous, green ripening to brown (Whitmore 1980, Farjon 2010).

The most similar species is A. dammara. Confidently distinguishing the two species requires pollen cones, which of course are not present on (or beneath) all trees. When they are immature, the pollen cones of A. borneensis are rather globose and become cylindrical by elongation, while those of A. dammara are cylindrical but still small and retain their proportions as they grow. At maturity, the microsporophylls of A. borneensis are much larger than those of A. dammara and have a thin, lighter-colored upper margin (Farjon 2010).

Distribution and Ecology

Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, primarily on Borneo, Sumatra, and the southern Malay Peninsula. It occurs from low elevations to 1440 m in upland tropical rainforest, often associated with sandstone kerangas, "and in dense, nearly pure stands on low-lying sandy peat soil." This ecological setting is very similar to that of Dacrydium pectinatum (de Laubenfels 1988); it also occurs with Falcatifolium falciforme, Nageia wallichiana, Sundacarpus amarus, and species of Podocarpus (Farjon 2010).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-04-28.

Ethnobotany

"Agathis species are distinctive, highly sought and exploited for their valuable timber. Large stands of this species have been completely extracted throughout much of its range, most notably in Kalimantan. Exploitation continues to be heavy and regeneration in residual stands is insufficient to replace lost populations. In the past the tree has also been destructively exploited for copal. Plantations are now established " (World Conservation Monitoring Centre 2001).

Attempts at plantation silviculture are reported by Smythies (1965). At that time, "logs are in great demand in Australia as peelers for plywood factories, and command high prices; supplies are limited and most of the available stands have been worked out in the past ten years."

Observations

No data as of 2026-04-28.

Remarks

The epithet means "of Borneo", although this is one of the most widespread species of Agathis with a range including Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.

Citations

Meijer-Drees. 1940. The genus Agathis in Malaysia. Bull. Bot. Gds. Buitenzorg, Series III, XVI, 455-474.

Warburg, Otto. 1900. Monsunia V. 1, p. 184. Leipzig: Verlag Von Wilhelm Engelmann. Available: Internet Archive, accessed 2026.01.15.

World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 2001. World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees. http://www.wcmc.org.uk/cgi-bin/SaCGI.cgi/trees.exe, accessed 2001.07.13, now defunct.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.

Meijer-Drees (1940).

Whitmore (1977).