Dipterocarpus is a genus of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...

. The genus has about 70 species, occurring in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. It is an important component of dipterocarp forests. Its generic name comes from Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and means "two-winged fruits".

The genus is of considerable importance as timber trees, sold under the trade name Keruing

Dipterocarp timber classification

The following table associates tree species, wood name and wood colour....

, although not as important as Shorea

Shorea

Shorea is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the Governor-General of the British East India Company, 1793-1798. They are native to southeast Asia, from Northern India to Malaysia, Indonesia and the...

. Gurjan, which is a major commercial timber species found in the Andaman islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

, is a member of this genus. Gurjan wood is very important for making plywood.