Drypetes nienkui Merr. & Chun, Sunyatsenia 2: 258, fig. 29C, D. 1935.

Levin, Geoffrey A., 2022, Resurrection of Drypetes nienkui (Putranjivaceae), endemic to Hainan, China, PhytoKeys 206, pp. 129-136 : 129

Drypetes nienkui Merr. & Chun, Sunyatsenia 2: 258, fig. 29C, D. 1935.

Type.

China. Hainan: Fan Ya, Ng Chi Ling , elev. 1200 m, 8 Nov 1932, N. K. Chun & C. L. Tso 44246 (holotype: NY02684347!; isotypes A00055929!, AU042776 ! (image seen), IBSC0004245!, IBSC0004246!, IBSC0004247!, K000854225!, NAS00417232! (image seen), PE00022638! (image seen), US 01269000!).

Description.

Trees to 15(-20) m, to 30 dbh, dioecious; branches and branchlets glabrous. Buds perulate; perules ovate, 1.5-2 × 1.6-2 mm, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliolate. Leaves: stipules caducous, not seen; petiole 8-13 mm long, 1.3-1.7 mm diam., canaliculate, glabrous; blade oblong-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 8-14 × 3-6 cm, chartaceous-coriaceous, base ± asymmetric, broadly cuneate to broadly acute, margins entire, apex acute to gradually short-acuminate, tip obtuse, surfaces glabrous, abaxial light green, somewhat shiny, adaxial olive, shiny; midvein rounded abaxially and adaxially, 2 º veins 6-9 per side, slender but not obscure, 3 º reticulate, higher order not well differentiated, reticulate, all raised adaxially, areoles 0.6-1 mm diam., freely ending veinlets fairly common. Staminate inflorescences cymose, to 2 cm long, 8-10-flowered; peduncle 0.5-0.8 mm diam., glabrous; bracteoles triangular, 0.8-1 mm long, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliate. Pistillate inflorescences cymose, 1 cm long (fruiting), 4-7-flowered; peduncle 1.5-1.7 mm diam. (fruiting), glabrous; bracteoles not seen. Staminate flowers: pedicels 2-5 mm long, 0.3 mm diam., puberulent; sepals 4, ovate, 1.7-2 × 1.2-1.5 mm, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliate; disc shallowly lobed, glabrous; stamens 8, inserted between disc lobes, filaments 1.5 mm long, terete, glabrous, anthers +/- globose, 0.5 mm diam., glabrous. Pistillate flowers not seen; fruiting pedicels 6-12 mm long, 1.4-1.7 mm diam., puberulent, glabrescent, hairs erect, to 0.1 mm long; ovaries densely hirsute when young. Drupes purplish brown, globose or depressed globose, sometimes slightly lobed, 15-18 mm diam., 2-3-locular, surface sparsely hirsute, trichomes whitish, 0.1-0.2 mm long, erect; styles 2-3, 1.5-2 mm long; stigmas +/- flabellate, 0.5 × 0.7 mm; exocarp and mesocarp not differentiated, 0.5 mm thick, leathery or crustaceous, endocarp 0.1 mm thick, cartilaginous. Seeds 2-3.

Phenology.

Drypetes nienkui flowers August-November and fruits November-January.

Distribution and habitat.

Drypetes nienkui is widespread in the southern half of Hainan, China (see the map for D. indica in Fang et al. [2011], as to Hainan only), occurring in forests at 950-2100 m elevation.

Preliminary conservation status.

I have been able to locate only 13 gatherings of Drypetes nienkui . With the exception of two collections made in 2014 and 2017, all the collections date from between 1932 and 1954, but no data are available regarding population sizes or trends. Applying the criteria of IUCN (2022), D. nienkui should receive a preliminary conservation assessment of Data Deficient, although a more complete assessment might show it qualifies as a species of elevated conservation concern.