Aquilaria beccariana van Tiegh, Ann. Sc. Nat. Bot. 7, 17 (1893)

Named after O. Beccari [1843-1920], an Italian botanist.

Synonyms
Aquilaria cumingiana var. parviflora Airy Shaw
Aquilaria grandifolia Domke
Gyrinopsis grandifolia (Domke) Quis.

Description
Tree up to 28 m tall and 91 cm diam. with grey and smooth bark. Young branchlets pubescent. Leaves papery to subcoriaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, sometimes scattered pubescent beneath, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or elliptic-oblong, rarely elliptic, (7-)11-27 by (3-)6-8.5 cm; base cuneate to attenuate; apex acute to acuminate; nerves (10-)15-25 pairs, curving and ascending towards the margin, elevated and prominent beneath, distinct above; veins loosely reticulate; petiole 5-7 mm. Inflorescences axillary or extraaxillary, branched and up to 1.5 cm peduncled, short-paniculiform, pubescent; pedicels 3-7 mm, pubescent. Flowers 7-12 mm long, yellowish, greenish or yellowish-white. Floral tube cylindric, 10-costate, sparsely hairy outside. Calyx lobes slightly ovate, puberulous inside, 2-3 mm long, densely puberulous on both surfaces, sometimes glabrescent on the outside. Petaloid appendages oblong, c. 1 mm long, densely short-hairy. Stamens usually sessile, rarely with very short filaments, almost as long as the petaloid appendages. Disk ring-like to cupular, densely puberulous. Pistil c. 5 mm long, with a distinct stipe c. 2 mm long, the stipe accrescent and elongated. Ovary ellipsoid, attenuate to the base, gradually narrowed at the apex; stigma capitate. Fruit protruding from the top of the floral tube, ellipsoid or obovoid, 2-3.5 by 1.75 cm, slightly puberulous and glabrescent, narrowed to the base into an elongate stipe up to 1.5 cm, acuminate to the apex, usually slightly contracted in the middle; floral tube entire, very rarely splitting on one side. Seeds black, ovoid, 10 by 5 mm, sparsely puberulous, acuminate to the apex, with an elongate tail c. 5 mm long, attached at the center of the appendage, the appendage slender, c. 1 cm long, densely reddish-brown pubescent. [from Flora Malesiana]

Ecology
In undisturbed mixed dipterocarp, keranga and sub-montane forests up to 1000 m altitude. Often along rivers and streams and on ridges. On sandy to clay soils.

Uses
The fungi infected wood is used to produce a valuable incense (gaharu). The fungi-infected heartwood, characteristic of all members of the genus, has high commercial value for making incense, perfume and traditional medicine. Numerous trees are cut down, many uninfected, to harvest just a few kilograms of the diseased wood. The increase in levels of trade over the past decade has resulted in overexploitation throughout its range.

Distribution
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo.

Local names
Borneo: Aru, Engkaras, Engkeras, Enkaran, Gaharu, Karas, Kekaras, Mebuaan.
Indonesia: garu tanduk (Kalimantan), mengkaras putih (Sumatra).
Malaysia: gaharu, gumbil, njabak.