Bhesa robusta (Roxb.) Ding Hou, Blumea Suppl. 4 (1958)

Synonyms
Bhesa moja Ham. ex Arn.
Celastrus robustus Roxb.
Kurrimia calophylla Wall.
Kurrimia maingayi Laws. in Hook.f.
Kurrimia pulcherrima Wall. ex Laws. in Hook.f.
Kurrimia robusta Kurz
Kurrimia robusta var. roxburghii Pierre
Kurrimia robusta var. thorelii Pierre
Kurrimia sinica Hung T. Chang & S.Ye Liang
Nothocnestis sumatrana Miq.
Sarcosperma tonkinense Lecomte

Description
Large tree to 48 m tall and 96 cm diameter. Bark grey-brown; inner bark yellow. Sapwood pale. Stipules lanceolate, 5-10 mm long. Leaves elliptic or oblong, 7-9 x 3-4 cm; base cuneate, apex blunt or pointed; midrib raised above; lateral veins 11-15 pairs; intercostal veins very faint to invisible; petioles 1-3 cm long, slightly swollen at apex. Flowers in racemes, subsessile; calyx lobed, lobes broadly ovate to rounded; petals oblong to elliptic; disc cup-shaped, subentire or obscurely notched; stamens c. 2 mm long, attached beneath the outer margin of disc, anthers deltoid; ovary subglobose with tuft of hairs at apex, styles free, longer than ovary. Fruits ovoid, not lobed, c. 2 x 1 cm, apex pointed. Seeds 1, enveloped by orange aril, sometimes only the lower half; cotyledons fleshy.

Ecology
In undisturbed mixed dipterocarp forests up to 900 m altitude. Usually on hillsides and ridges with sandy to clay soils.

Uses
Timber is used for house building and beams.

Distribution
Pakistan, NE India, Bhutan, Birma, Indo-China, Thailand, Andaman Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea.

Local names
Borneo: Simun.