Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?"
The King will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me." .......Matthew 25

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Afzelia xylocarpa - The Cambodian Beng tree

The Cambodians call it the Beng tree. The scientific name is Afzelia xylocarpa . It is listed as one of the endangered tree species in Cambodia.

From Wikipedia: Afzelia xylocarpa is a tree from Southeast Asia. It grows in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma in deciduous forests. It can reach 30 meters tall with a trunk up to 2 meters in diameter in a mature specimen. An alternative name is Pahudia cochinchinensis. The seeds are harvested for medicinal purposes. The seed pulp can be used to make cigarettes and the bark and seed are used for herbal medicine. The highly-figured lumber is often sold as Afzelia Xylay. The wood is used for ornamental woodturning, pens, knife handles, carvings, and musical instruments.


Other Endangered trees include:
Anisoptera costata
Dalbergia oliveri
Dipterocarpus alatus
Dipterocarpus costatus
Hopea ferrea
Hopea pierrei
Shorea henryana
Shorea roxburghii
Vatica cinerea

Critically Endangered species:
Aquilaria crassna
Dipterocarpus dyeri
Hopea helferi
Shorea guiso
Shorea hypochra


The Aquilaria crassna is the ketsana or agarwood tree which the recent typhoon was named after.

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