Hopea Explained

Hopea should not be confused with Hopia.

Hopea is a genus of plants in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It contains some 113 species, distributed from Sri Lanka and southern India to the Andaman Islands, Myanmar, southern China, and southward throughout Malesia to New Guinea. They are mainly main and subcanopy trees of lowland rainforest, but some species can become also emergent trees, such as Hopea nutans.

The genus was named after John Hope, the first Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.^[1]

Botany

Trees in this genus are small or medium, but they can grow occasionally large. They have low branches and sometimes thick buttress roots. Their bark is chocolate brown and smooth at first, but later crack and mottle with grey spots.^[2]

Species

Species accepted:

Other species recently used, but now not accepted include:

• Hopea exalata, now a synonym of Hopea reticulata^[3]
• Hopea kitulgallensis, not now accepted^[4]
• Hopea malabarica, now a synonym of Hopea racophloea^[5]
• Hopea siamensis, now a synonym of Hopea pierrei^[6]
• Hopea wightiana Wall., now a synonym of Hopea ponga^[7]

Notes and References

1. de Lirio . Elton John . Freitas . Joelcio . Request for a binding decision on whether Hopea Roxb. (Dipterocarpaceae) and Hopia Zuloaga & Morrone (Poaceae) are sufficiently alike to be confused . August 2014 . Taxon . 63 . 4 . 948 . 10.12705/634.38. free .
2. Ashton . Peter S. . Dipterocarpaceae . 2016 . Flora Malesiana . 9 . 1 . 237–552 . Naturalis Institutional Repository.
3. Web site: Hopea exalata W.T.Lin, Y.Y.Yang & Q.S.Hsue . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 27 January 2021.
4. Web site: Hopea kitulgallensis . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 27 January 2021.
5. Web site: Hopea malabarica Bedd. . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 27 January 2021.
6. Web site: Hopea siamensis F.Heim . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 27 January 2021.
7. Web site: Hopea wightiana Wall. ex Wight & Arn. . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 27 January 2021.