Toona calantas is a species of tree in the Meliaceae. It is found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description and phenology
The kalantas tree can grow up to and can measure up to in diameter.
The color of the bark ranges from yellowish to dark brown and the inner bark is light brown
while trunk is straight and
terete.
The leaves can be described as compound, alternate oblong or broadly
lanceolate.
The fruit of the kalantas tree is a capsule that can be ellipsoid or oblongoid that measures long.
Flowering occurs from June to August while fruiting occurs from September to November.
Distribution, importance and conservation status
Generally scattered all over the Philippines particularly in the
Balabac Island, the kalantas tree can be found in the hills of a forest situated in low to medium altitudes.
The wood of the tree is used for making boxes, furniture or
plywood.
Kalantas has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Data Deficient
but it was reported that kalantas is exhausted due to logging and
kaingin (a
Tagalog language term for
slash-and-burn).
Reforestation efforts have been done in the Philippines and the kalantas tree is included in these efforts.
One of the efforts were done by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the term of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo where the president herself planted a seedling of a kalantas tree,
which is the favored tree promoted by the president.
