Dalbergia oliveri is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae which grows in tree form to 15 – 30 meters in height (up to 100 ft.). The fruit is a green pod containing one to two seeds which turn brown to black when ripe. It is threatened by habitat loss and over-harvesting for its valuable red "rosewood" timber.
University of Oxford published the transcriptomes of Dalbergia oliveri and five other Dalbergia spp. It was found that D. oliveri had more R genes than the co-occurring Dalbergia cochinchinensis.
Distribution naming and synonyms
The species is native to Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Common names in S.E. Asia are: Cambodian: "Neang Nuon", Thai: "Mai Ching Chan" (ไม้ชิงชัน), Laos: "Mai Kham Phii" (ໄມ້ຄຳພີ), Myanmar: "tamalan" (တမလန်း).
In Vietnamese cẩm lai or trắc lai is a generic name for "rosewood" trees. Based at the Saigon Botanic Gardens, the French botanist JBL Pierre described a number of local variations in tree dimensions and characteristics of seed pods (which are usually glabrous). Species he named are now considered to be synonyms:
Dalbergia bariensis: cẩm lai bông, cẩm lai Bà Rịa – 15-20 m trees – pods 25 x 120mm, usually 1 seeded
Dalbergia dongnaiensis: cẩm lai Ðồng Nai – 10-15 m trees – pods 30-45 x 100-110mm, 1 seed
Dalbergia duperreana: trắc (Cambodia) – 10-20 m trees – pods 27-40 x 120mm
Dalbergia mammosa: cẩm lai vú - 20 m trees – pods 22 x 100mm, not narrowing on 1-2 seeds
Dalbergia olivieri: cẩm lai bông - 25 m trees – pods 17 x 60-80mm, 1 or 2 (rarely 3) seeds
