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Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 580-680 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees with two-winged fruits. The largest genera are Shorea (360 species), Hopea (105 species), Dipterocarpus (70 species), and Vatica (60 species). Many are large forest emergent species, typically reaching heights of 40-70 m tall. The species of this family are of major importance in the timber trade. Their distribution is pantropical , from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, IndochinaIndochina or French Indochina was a federation of French colonies and protectorates in south-east Asia, part of the French colonial empire. It consisted of Cochin China, Tonkin, Annam (all of which now form Vietnam), Laos and the Khmer Republic (now Cambo and MalesiaMalesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tr, with the greatest diversity and abundance in western MalesiaMalesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tr. Some species are now endangeredAn endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. Many countries have laws offering special protection to these species (forbidding hunting, banning their habitats from development, etc. to prevent t as a result of overcutting and extensive illegal loggingIllegal logging is logging in national parks and other "protected areas" without government authorization, or where such authorization was obtained by bribery. Illegally logged timber is often transhipped through other countries to avoid checks and contro. They provide valuable woods, aromatic essential oilAn essential oil is a water-immiscible material produced by distillation from some plant material. The material (flowers, leaves, stems, or roots, depending on the plant) is put in an alembic over water, and the volatile compounds, which require less vapos, balsamBalsam is a term used for various pleasantly scented plant products. They may be obtained from: Balsam (flower) Impatiens Balsam fir Abies balsamea Balsam poplars Populus spp., and resins.

The dipterocarp family is generally divided into three subfamilies:

• Monotoideae: 3 genera, 30 species. Monotes has 26 species, distributed across Africa, Madagascar, South America. Pseudomonotes is native to the Colombian Amazon. Marquesia is native to Africa.

• Pakaraimoideae: contains a single species, Pakaraimaea roraimae , found in the Guaianan highlandsGuiana (also known as the Guiana highlands or the Guiana shield) forms a portion of the northern coast of South America. It is a very old geological formation that hosts the impressive and mysterious table-like mountains called tepuis, which are the sourc of South America.

• Dipterocarpoideae: the largest of the subfamilies, it contains 13 genera and 470-650 species. Distribution includes the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, India, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, but mostly in west Malesia, where they form the dominant species in the lowland forests. The Dipterocarpoideae can be divided into two groups (Ashton, 1982; and Maury-Lechon and Curtet, 1998):
  • Valvate-Dipterocarpi group (Anisoptera, Cotylelobium, Dipterocarpus, Stemonoporus, Upuna, Vateria, Vateriopsis, Vatica). The genera of this group have valvate sepals in fruit, solitary vessels, scattered resin canals, and basic chromosome number x = 11.
  • Imbricate-Shoreae group (Balanocarpus, Hopea, Parashorea, Shorea). The genera of this group have imbricate sepals in fruit, grouped vessels, resin canals in tangential bands, and basic chromosome number x = 7. A recent molecular study (Dayanandan et. al., 1999) suggest that the genus Hopea forms a clade with Shorea sections Anthoshorea and Doona, and should be merged into Shorea.

A recent genetic study (Ducousso et. al. 2004) found that the Asian dipterocarps share a common ancestor with the Sarcolaenaceae, a tree family endemic to Madagascar. This suggests that ancestor of the Dipterocarps originated in the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and that the common ancestor of the Asian dipterocarps and the Sarcolaenaceae was found in the India-Madagascar-Seychelles land mass millions of years ago, and were carried northward by India, which later collided with Asia and allowed the dipterocarps to spread across Southeast Asia and Malesia.