WestRed Dhup2013

Red Dhup (HT 2013-208)

This Heritage Tree can be found in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, along South View Path near the Visitor Center.

A massive tree surrounded by smaller foliage, with a wooden walkway and railings at its base in the forest.

Trunk base of Heritage Tree (📷: Hazri Boey)

Heritage Tree Information

Reference ID
HT 2013-208

Scientific name: Parishia insignis
Family name: Anacardiaceae
Girth: 4.5 m @ 6 m height
Height: 47.6 m

Location
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, along South View Path near Visitor Centre (View Map) (opens in new tab)

The Red Dhup is native to Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo but is critically endangered in Singapore. This genus includes a few kinds of large, buttressed forest-trees difficult to identify in the absence of the characteristic fruits. The pinnately compoiund leaves distinguish the genus from the Dipterocarps and from the Rengas-trees, which have rather similar fruits. It is a deciduous tree, which flowers before the leaves come out or with new leaves. The bright red fruits are conspicuous when the crown is bare of leaves. Its wood can be harvested as light timber.

An entry taken from the Journal of Straits Branch Asiatic Society; 1900, page 68: "Parishia pubescens Hook. lil. A lofty tree, 150 ft tall, flowering before the leaves come out, flowers white, very rare, Dalvey Road. P. pubescens is reduced to P. insignis in Flora Malesiana."

For more information on the species, please refer to NParks' Flora & Fauna Web profile. (opens in new tab)