Cyrtandra spicata de Vriese, Pl. Ind. Bat. Orient.

Atkins, H. J. & Kartonegoro, A., 2021, A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF CYRTANDRA (GESNERIACEAE) IN SULAWESI, INDONESIA, Edinburgh Journal of Botany 78 (364), pp. 1-122 : 107-109

36. Cyrtandra spicata de Vriese, Pl. Ind. Bat. Orient. 13 (1856).

– Rhynchocarpus spicatus Reinw. ex de Vriese, Pl. Ind. Bat. Orient. 13 (1856), nom. inval.

– Type: Indonesia, Celebes [Sulawesi], North Sulawesi, in sylvis montis Klabat , xi 1821, Reinwardt mss no. 1571 (lectotype L [ L0277522 ], designated here; isolectotype L [ L0277524 ]) .

Shrub or small tree to 5 m in height. Leaves opposite or in threes, crowded at ends of branches; those of a group or pair well developed but somewhat unequal in size; petiole up to 5 mm long, hairy; blades 15–30 × 4.5–13 cm, oblanceolate to narrow obovate, base decurrent and white, margin serrate-dentate, apex acute; 7–10 pairs of lateral veins, curving upwards and running out to margin with some lateral veins running out to adjacent teeth, upper surface of leaves subglabrous, sparsely hairy below, more densely so on midrib and veins. Inflorescences pendulous from branches, inflorescence axis up to 25 cm long, many-flowered, flowers clustered terminally, axis appearing scaly from the remains of old bracts; bracts up to 25 mm long, broad, possibly ovate, sparsely hairy. Calyx tubular, 20–25 mm long, more or less evenly 5-lobed, lobes triangular, 5 mm long, hairy externally. Corolla pale pink, 23–30 mm long, barely longer than the calyx, curved and slightly swollen below the throat, lobes unequal, upper lobes much smaller, sparsely hairy externally. Stamens with filaments 3–4 mm long, curved; anthers c. 2 mm long, connected at apices before dehiscence; staminodes 3, c. 1 mm long. Gynoecium c. 15 mm long (damaged at base); disc not seen; ovary not seen; style glandular at the top of the style near the stigma, glabrous towards the ovary; stigma bilobed, lobes vertical, possibly immature, 2 mm long, densely glandular on inner surface of lobes. Fruits ovoid, 10–11 × 6–7 mm, glabrous, calyx and base of style not persistent.

Distribution. North Sulawesi ( Figure 55 ).

Habitat and ecology. Upland forest at an altitude of 1100–1500 m.

Etymology. This species is named after its unusual spicate inflorescence (de Vriese, 1856).

Proposed IUCN conservation category. This species has an EOO of 88 km 2 and an AOO of 12 km 2, based on 2 × 2 km grid cell size, under the B criteria ( Bachman et al., 2011). There are no protected areas in its distribution range (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN, 2019), which is close to one of the most populated areas of Sulawesi, where threats from intensive agriculture and urban expansion are known ( Cannon et al., 2007); the number of collections is low and there are no collections more recent than 1895, despite relatively frequent fieldwork in North Sulawesi. It is therefore suggested that Cyrtandra spicata is considered Endangered (EN), B1ab(iii) + 2ab(iii).

Additional specimens examined. INDONESIA. North Sulawesi. Minahasa: Mt Masarang, Koleskai , 10 i 1895, Koorders 17197β (BO, L) ; Tomohon: Mt Lokon , 7 i 1895, Koorders 17203β (BO, L) .

This species, with its pendulous narrow inflorescence, is very distinctive, and most similar to the widespread Cyrtandra celebica , with its cauliflorous, but more open and branching, inflorescence. Cyrtandra spicata can most easily be distinguished vegetatively from that species by leaf shape and venation, with the leaves of C. spicata being oblanceolate with decurrent leaf bases and 7–10 pairs of lateral veins and those of C. celebica being ovate, not decurrent, and with up to 25 lateral vein pairs.

The description for Cyrtandra spicata is brief because the material available is incomplete; it has been compiled to a large extent from de Vriese’s original description and illustration, and examination of a single damaged flower. In all specimens seen, the inflorescences have become detached, but it appears from the original illustration as if they are pendulous from the branches.

Reinwardt’s collection dated November 1821, bearing the description ‘in sylvis montis Klabat’ and annotated with the manuscript name Rhynocarpus spicatus , is selected here as the lectotype. Koorders 17197β and 17203β have both been annotated with the herbarium name of ‘ Cyrtandra cauliflora Koord. , sp.nov. ’ but were later determined by Koorders as C. spicata de Vriese. Koorders never published the name Cyrtandra cauliflora , and Merrill uses it later for an unrelated Philippine species ( Merrill, 1920).

Figures

Figure 55. Distribution of Cyrtandra serratifolia (red diamonds), C. spectabilis (black circle) and C. spicata (black triangles).