Aquilaria

Aquilaria is a genus of trees, called lign aloes or lign-aloes trees, in the family Thymelaeaceae. It includes 21 species native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the rainforests of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China, Malaysia, Northeast India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Borneo and New Guinea.^[1] The trees grow to 6–20 m (20–66 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, 5–11 cm (2.0–4.3 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.79–1.6 in) broad, with a short acuminate apex and an entire margin. The flowers are yellowish-green, produced in an umbel; the fruit is a woody capsule 2.5–3 cm (0.98–1.2 in) long.

Clade:Embryophytes

Clade:Tracheophytes

Clade:Angiosperms

Clade:Eudicots

Quick facts Conservation status, Scientific classification ...

Aquilaria
Aquilaria sinensis leaves
Conservation status
CITES Appendix II
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Thymelaeaceae
Subfamily:	Thymelaeoideae
Genus:	Aquilaria Lam. (1788)
Species[1]
21; see text
Synonyms[1]
Agallochum Lam. (1783) Aloexylum Lour. (1790) Aquilariella Tiegh. (1893) Decaisnella Kuntze (1891), nom. illeg. Gyrinopsis Decne. (1843) Ophispermum Lour. (1790)

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The genus is best known, together with Gyrinops, as the principal producer of the resin-suffused agarwood used in aromatic incense production, especially Aquilaria malaccensis.^[2][3] The depletion of wild trees from indiscriminate cutting for agarwood has resulted in the trees being listed and protected as an endangered species.^[2][3][4] Projects are currently underway in some countries in southeast Asia to infect cultivated Aquilaria trees artificially to produce agarwood in a sustainable manner.^[4] In Indonesia, for example, there have been proposals to encourage the planting of gahara, as it is known locally, in eastern Indonesia, particularly in the province of Papua.^[5]