Tectona
Tectona grandis in new leaves in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Tectona L.f.
Species
Tectona grandis Tectona hamiltoniana Tectona philippinensis

Tectona is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the mint family, Lamiaceae.^[1][2][3] The three species are often collectively called teak.

Description

Tectona is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand, and are commonly found as a component of monsoon forest vegetation. They are large trees, growing to 30–40 m (90–120 ft.) tall, deciduous in the dry season. Tectona grandis is an economically important species which is the source of most commercial teak wood products.^[4]

Systematics

Teak belongs to the family Lamiaceae (in older classifications in Verbenaceae). Sometimes it is included in the subfamily Prostantheroideae.^[5] There are three species of Tectona:

• Tectona grandis (common teak) is by far the most important, with a wide distribution in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, China, India, and Pakistan.
• Tectona hamiltoniana (Dahat teak) is a local endemic species confined to Burma, where it is endangered.
• Tectona philippinensis (Philippine teak) is endemic to the Philippines, and is critically endangered according to the IUCN (http://iucnredlist.org/details/32123/0).

The genus Tectona is a conserved name against the earlier homotypic synonym Theka Adans.^[2] The genus was originally described by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in 1782.^[6]

The biggest and oldest teak

The biggest and oldest teak is in Uttaradit, Thailand. It is more than 1,500 years old. Its height is 47 metres.^{[clarification needed] [7]}