Anisophyllea griffithii Oliver (1862: 460)

Chen, Xin, He, Hai & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2015, A monograph of the Anisophylleaceae (Cucurbitales) with description of 18 new species of Anisophyllea, Phytotaxa 229 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

30. Anisophyllea griffithii Oliver (1862: 460) ( Figure 58 )

Type:— MALAYSIA. Malacca: Without locality, no date, Griffith 2439 (lectotype K-000493108!, here designated, isolectotype K-000493109!) .

Trees to 25 m tall, 60 cm in diam.; bark light-brown, smooth, shallowly ridged, cracked or broken into rugs when old; young branches slender, drooping, pannose (with yellowish hairs mostly to 0.16 mm long) and pilose in an immixed way (with erect or ascending hairs up to 0.6 mm long), glabrescent when mature; buds pannose. Leaves dimorphic, internodes between similar types of leaves 1.1–3.0 cm, between two adjacent different types of leaves 5–8 mm; small leaves caducous, only leaving scars on young twigs; large leaves petiolate, petiole to 3 mm long, 1.1 mm in diam.; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, rarely lanceolate, 5–10 cm long, 2.0– 3.5 cm wide, base slightly oblique, acute, apex acute to acuminate, margins often slightly revolute, thinly coriaceous, lustrous and greenish-yellow adaxially and rather duller abaxially when dry, glabrous, rarely pilose with yellowish hairs up to 1 mm long on both surfaces; main longitudinal veins 3, or rarely 5, arising from blade base, midrib straight and bold, impressed adaxially and raised abaxially, outer 2 (or rarely 4) lateral veins very fine and close to blade margins, slightly prominent on both surfaces; transverse veins irregular, some of those from midrib and curved towards blade apex rather conspicuous and forming a pinnate-like venation; veinlets reticulate, visible on both surfaces or sometimes obscure adaxially and slightly prominent abaxially. Inflorescence a supra-axillary spike, in 1–2 serials, rachis to 7 cm long, 0.6 mm in diam., pannose with brownish hairs 0.06–0.25 mm long and more densely covered at base of flowers, remotely flowered with floral internodes 1.5–5.0 mm distant. flowers bisexual, 4-merous, sessile,

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MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 83 green, slightly obovoid, glabrous; receptacle cylindrical, 1.7–1.9 mm long, same in diam.; sepals deltoid, 1.0– 1.3 mm long, 1.6–1.8 mm wide at base, coriaceous; petals shorter than sepals, oblong, ca. 1 mm long, 0.3 mm wide, entire or slightly emarginated (rarely 3 shallowly lobed), fleshy; stamens 8, in equal length, filaments fleshy, subulate, 0.7–1.0 mm long, epipetalous 4 ca. l/3 adnate to petals, anthers small, ca. 0.25 mm long; disk 8-lobed, crenulate;styles 4, free, ca. 1 mm long, base clavate, 0.2 mm in diam., distally attenuate, apex recurved. Fruits broadly ellipsoid or subglobose, 4.5–5.0 cm long, 3.5–4.0 cm in diam., obtuse at each end, glabrous, smooth; pericarp woody, to 1.5 cm thick. Seeds globose, 1.25–1.50 cm in diam.

Flowering and fruiting: —January–November (or December).

Habitat and distribution: — In lowland forests; below 400 m. Brunei (Belait); Malaysia (Johor, Kedah, Malacca, Pahang, Penang, Sarawak, Selangor); Singapore ( Figure 59 ) .

Vernacular names and local usage: — Kempas dadeh, delek tembaga, pelepap, poko kumpao dadeh, seluang berlering. The heavy durable timber suitable for house beams.

Taxonomic notes: —When Oliver (1862) published Anisophyllea griffithii , there were only a few species known under this genus and only A. disticha , A. laurina , and A. zeylanica (= A. cinnamomoides ) were mentioned in his publication. These latter four species are quite different from this species in the nature of leaves. The pinnate-like venation of A. griffithii was first reported and attached importance by Ridley (1922) and later by Ding Hou (1958), who used this character in their keys to species. Ding Hou (1958: 475) assumed that this species has solitary flowers; in fact, its flowers are remotely located on spike-like inflorescences. Our examination of the available material showed that Ding Hou (1958) was correct in claiming that only bisexual flowers were observed in this species. This species is also similar to A. beccariana but distinguishable from the latter by having shorter petioles, bisexual flowers, and hairy young branches.

We found two duplicates of the gathering Griffith 2439 collected from Malacca corresponding to the protologue. Here we designate one of them, K-000493108, as the lectotype. The distribution of this species in Borneo ( Brunei and Sarawak) is based on the additional specimens we examined .

Additional specimens examined: — BRUNEI. Belait: Seria, Teraja F. R, En route from Bt. Teraja to Kpg. Mendaram (east route), 100–350 m, 22 December 1963, Mitsuru Hotta 12934 ( L) . MALAYSIA. Malacca: Without

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locality, no date, Griffiith s.n. ( K000450759 , computer image). Pahang: Lesong F. R ., 150 m, 26 June 1972, Y. C . Chan 19850 ( L); Without locality, January 1888, Curtis 148 ( K), 24 September 1919, J. W. J 4923 ( K). Penang: Without locality, no date, Curtis 1511 ( K). Sarawak: Ulu Segan, N . Setungan , 4 November 1964, P. S . Ashton 22005 ( K, L). SINGAPORE. MacRitchie Reservoir, 20 February 1938, E. J. H . Corner 34689 (K).

Figures

FIGURE 58. Anisophyllea griffithii Oliver. —A. Flowering branch. —B. Fower. —C. Flower with calyx lobes removed. —D. Longitudinal section of flower. —E. Petal and stamen. —F. Petal. —G. Stamen. —H. Cross section of ovary (Drawn by W. H. Fitch; reproduced and modified from Oliver in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 23: pl. 48. 1862).

FIGURE 59. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea griffithii Oliver.