Lasianthus oblongus King & Gamble

Zhu, H., Roos, M. C. & Ridsdale, C. E., 2012, A taxonomic revision of the Malesian species of Lasianthus (Rubiaceae), Blumea 57 (1), pp. 1-102 : 68

87. Lasianthus oblongus King & Gamble

Lasianthus oblongus King & Gamble (1904) 127;Ridl.(1923a) 166;K.M. Wong (1989) 368. —

Type: King’s collector 4128 ( lecto SING, selected by Wong 1989 ; isolecto BM, K, L) . Paratypes: Scortechini 265 (n.v.) ; Ridley 4935 (n.v.), 9702 (n.v.), 9729 (n.v.) ; Wray 2590 ( SING) ; King’s collector 402 ( SING), 4462 ( K), 10082 (n.v.) ; Curtis 2081 ( SING), Perak . Ridley 7438 (n.v.), Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia .

Shrubs, up to 2 m high; branchlets terete, c. 2 mm diam, minutely puberulous or glabrescent, dark when dry. Leaves: blades narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 9–14 by 2–3 cm, thinly coriaceous, glabrous above, puberulous hairs on midrib and nerves beneath, apex caudate-acuminate, base acute, dark when dry, midrib and nerves slightly prominent above, prominent beneath, nerves 6–7 pairs, ascending at an angle of 50–60°, curved to the margin; nervules slender, densely anastomosing, parallel; petioles 5– 8 mm long, puberulous. Stipules triangular, c. 3 mm long, densely pubescent. Cymes sessile, bracts absent. Flowers pediceled; pedicels c. 3 mm long, glabrous; calyx shallow cupular, c. 1.5 mm long, glabrous or puberulous, limb c. 1 mm long, truncate; corolla c. 5 mm long, pubescent outside, lobes 5, oblong, densely long-floccose inside. Drupes globose, c. 3–4 mm diam, puberulous or glabrous, verrucose, with 7–8 obtuse ridges; pyrenes 7–8.

Distribution — Endemic to Peninsular Malaysia.

Note — Lasianthus oblongus has oblong-lanceolate leaves with clearly parallel nervules, pedicels relatively short, 2 – 3 mm long, drupes with 7–8 pyrenes, differing from L. purpureus .