Sentang or Azadirachta excelsa is a large deciduous tree up to 50 m tall, bole up to 125 cm in diameter with slight or no buttress. It belongs to the family Meliaceae. Sentang is native to Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan), Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea and the Phillipines (Mindoro and Palawan). Due to its straight bole and fast growth, this tree has been identified as a suitable plantation species. The oldest recorded planting in FRIM was in 1953. In Peninsular Malaysia, the young shoots, leaves and flowers are consumed as vegetable. The fragrant greenish-white flowers are a source of pollen and nectar in apiculture. The fruits can be eaten but not tasty. Like its relative Azadirachta indica or the neem tree, the seed has insecticidal properties, and the seed oil can be used to manufacture soap. In the humid tropics, sentang is generally evergreen but it can have a pronounced deciduous condition for up to three months in a year. The leaves of the sentang was shedding in January 2013 and January 2014. The leaves can be seen littering the ground in front of the library (Building D2) as an onset to flushing and flowering which usually occur within a month.

Article by Norhayati N, first uploaded on 21 January 2013 where weekly weather was cloudy with temperature ranging from 29°C to 32°C. Updated on 29 January 2014, with cloudy weather ranging from 23°C to 34°C.