Shorea superba is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

. The species name is derived from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 (superbus = magnificent) and refers to the stature and elegance of the tree.

Description

It is a vast emergent tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

, growing to 75 m tall, the tallest measured specimen is 84.4 m tall in the Tawau Hills National Park

Tawau Hills National Park

Tawau Hills National Park, also Tawau Hills Park, was established in 1979, primarily as a protection for the water catchment area of Tawau town, in Sabah, east Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It is located 24 kilometers from Tawau, and comprises 279.72 km² of lowland dipterocarp rainforest,...

, in Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

.

Distribution

The species is found in mixed dipterocarp forest on well-structured clay soils in moist areas. It is endemic to Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, where it is threatened by habitat loss.

It is found within at least four protected areas (Sepilok Forest Reserve, Danum Valley Conservation Area

Danum Valley Conservation Area

Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. The area holds unique status in the sense that before it became a conservation area there were no human settlements within the area, meaning that hunting,...

, Lambir Hills

Lambir Hills National Park

Lambir Hills National Park is situated near Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It is a small park, composed largely of mixed dipterocarp forest. A census of all trees in a 52 hectare plot found 1175 different species...

 and Gunung Mulu

Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu National Park near Miri, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses incredible caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting...

National Parks).