Cyrtandra longirostris 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 : 66-68

20. Cyrtandra longirostris de Vriese, Pl. Ind. Bat. Orient. , 12 (1856).

– Rhynchocarpus longirostris Reinwardt ex de Vriese, Pl. Ind. Bat. Orient. 12 (1856), nom. inval.

– Type: Indonesia, Celebes [Sulawesi], North Sulawesi, in monte Lujong insulae, Reinwardt (mss no. 1515) 1535 (lectotype L [ L0277503 ], designated here; isolectotype S) .

Shrub to 2 m in height. Stems striate, hairy, more densely so on young growth, woody at base. Leaves opposite, both members of a pair well developed but somewhat unequal in size; petiole 5–15 mm, hairy; blades 7–19 × 2.5–7 cm, elliptic to narrow elliptic, sometimes narrow obovate, base acute, briefly decurrent, slightly asymmetrical, margin subentire to serrulate, apex acuminate; 6–8 pairs of lateral veins curving upwards and running out to margin, sparsely hairy above and below, more densely so on midrib and veins below. Inflorescences axillary, pedunculate, 2- or 3-flowered; bracts 2–3 × 1–2 mm, lanceolate, hairy, not connate; peduncles 15–40 mm long, sparsely hairy to hairy; pedicels 8–12 mm long, sparsely hairy. Calyx 7–9 mm, evenly 5-lobed, rarely 4-lobed, lobes triangular, acuminate at apex, 4–6 mm long, hairy externally. Corolla white or light yellow, 11–17 mm long, tube narrow in basal half, widening abruptly to mouth in apical half, lobes not recurved, upper lobes 4 × 3–5 mm, lower lobes c.6 × 3 mm, hairy externally. Stamens with filaments 2–3 mm long, attached 5–8 mm from base of corolla, glabrous; anthers c. 1 mm long, connected at apices before dehiscence; staminodes 1–2 mm long. Gynoecium 8–10 mm long; disc cupular, margin undulate, c. 1 mm long, glabrous externally; ovary glabrous; style glabrous towards the base, becoming glandular hairy at the top of the style near the stigma; stigma slightly bilobed, lobes almost triangular, 1 mm across. Fruits ovoid, c.5 × 3 mm, glabrous, bracts, calyx, style and stigma persistent, giving a beaked appearance.

Distribution. North Sulawesi (see Figure 35 ).

Habitat and ecology. Hill and upland forest at an altitude of 700–1100 m.

Etymology. This species is assumed to be named for the beaked appearance of the fruits where they are tipped by the persistent style.

Proposed IUCN conservation category. This species has an EOO of 931 km 2 and an AOO

of 16 km 2, based on a 2 × 2 km grid cell size, under the B criteria ( Bachman et al., 2011). It grows at relatively low altitudes in one of the most threatened forest types ( Cannon et al., 2007), in one of the most densely populated areas of Sulawesi, where there is no formal protection (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN, 2019). Despite it occurring in one of the best-collected areas on the island, this species has been collected only six times, most recently in 1954. Because of the restricted distribution, the threat from intensive agriculture and urban expansion ( Cannon et al., 2007), and the lack of any formal protection, Cyrtandra longirostris is considered to be Endangered (EN), B1ab(iii) + 2ab(iii).

Additional specimens examined. INDONESIA. North Sulawesi. Minahasa: Summit of Gunung Empung,

7 vii 1954, Alston 16280 (A, BM, BO); Tondano, 1840–1842, Forsten 157 (K, L); Ratahan, 13 iii 1895, Koorders 17182β (BO, L); ibid., 13 iii 1895, Koorders 17196β (BO, L); South Minahasa: Mt Lolombulan, 6 iv 1895, Koorders 17186β (BO, L).

Cyrtandra longirostris can be distinguished in Sulawesi by its combination of subequal leaves, long pedunculate inflorescences, and ovoid fruits with persistent styles. It is morphologically similar to Cyrtandra cuneata Blume from Ternate and C. calyptribracteata Bakh. f. from Java and is often misidentified as these. Because some of these names have been linked with collections from Sulawesi, we clarify their differences and nomenclatural history here.

The Sulawesi species, Cyrtandra longirostris , has small inflorescence bracts (c. 3 mm long), glabrous fruits and white flowers; C. cuneata from the Moluccas has large inflorescence bracts (10–15 mm long) that are not connate, hairy fruits and purplish flowers, and C. calyptribracteata has ovate, connate bracts (10–15 mm long) that completely enclose the young inflorescence, glabrous fruits and reddish or pink flowers.

The first of these names to be published was Cyrtandra cuneata by Blume in 1826. He did not cite any specimens but gave the distribution of the species as the Moluccas. The only specimen from the Moluccas that was collected early enough to have been seen by Blume is Reinwardt 1101 at Leiden (L2818385). In 1856, de Vriese published the names Cyrtandra longirostris and C. umbellata , with no reference to C. cuneata . Cyrtandra longirostris was described from Sulawesi, and a specimen with the details ‘In monte Lujong insulae Celebes’ was cited below the description. This matches a Reinwardt collection, Reinwardt 1535, at Leiden (L0277503) that also has the manuscript name Rhynchocarpus longirostris written on it, and this is selected here as the lectotype of C. longirostris .

Under Cyrtandra umbellata, de Vriese listed specimens from both Sulawesi and Ternate (de Vriese, 1856). The specimen from Sulawesi was a Reinwardt collection with the locality details ‘Inter Lotam et Kaskassan’. It matches the specimen mounted on a sheet in the herbarium in Leiden (L0277490) and is, in fact, Cyrtandra longirostris , having small inflorescence bracts and glabrous fruits; it is listed under C. longirostris here. The specimen from Ternate is described as ‘In sylvis montis Idjeng’ and matches Reinwardt 1101 (L2818385), the type of Cyrtandra cuneata .

Clarke (1883) recognised that Cyrtandra umbellata was a synonym of C. cuneata . However, he incorrectly listed specimens from Sulawesi and Java under Cyrtandra cuneata . The Javanese material was later separated and described as Cyrtandra calyptribracteata ( Bakhuizen van den Brink, 1950) , and the Sulawesi specimen that Clarke cited under C. cuneata is moved here to C. longirostris .

The name Cyrtandra umbellata was also later used illegitimately by Kraenzlin for a completely unrelated Philippine species ( Kraenzlin, 1913). It has subsequently been renamed Cyrtandra bacanii Olivar & Muellner-Riehl ( Olivar & Muellner-Riehl, 2019).

Figures

Figure 35. Distribution of Cyrtandra kjellbergii (bright red circle), C. kinhoi (black triangles), C. longirostris (white circles) and C. longistamina (dark red circles).