Mucuna schlechteri Harms

39. Mucuna schlechteri Harms View in CoL

Mucuna schlechteri Harms (1920) View in CoL 373; Verdc.(1979) 453,f. 105, 107B, B.1; (1980) 521. — Type: Schlechter 17449 (B†?), Udu, Waria River.

Mucuna lane-poolei Summerh. (1926) View in CoL 240; Verdc. (1979) 446; (1980) 525. — Type: Lane-Poole 372 (E. Stanley) (BRI?), Papua New Guinea, Owen Stanley Range .

Distribution — Malesia: New Guinea: Irian Jaya; Papua New Guinea: Morobe, W Sepik, Central, Northern, Milne Bay Prov.

Habitat & Ecology — Primary and secondary forest, riverside. Altitude up to 1760 m. Soil: ultrabasic (once recorded). Flowering: January, June to September, November; fruiting: July to September.

Note — Flowering parts of inflorescences often quite long, densely set with short, thick brachyblasts, giving the top part a knobby outlook or less dense and brachyblasts more slen- der. Brachyblasts usually 1.5– 2 mm thick, more slender ones 0.5–1.1 mm thick. Apex of wing petals ± hardened like that of keel petals. Pods show no visible ornamentation on the valves. Seeds look ± mature, however, in drying they seem to have shrunk and become irregular (‘misshapen’, see also M. longipedunculata ). Seed coat ± shiny black, pitted. Verdcourt (1980) discusses the differences between M. lane-poolei and M. schlechteri citing the close similarity of these species. He decided to keep the species separate. Comparing the available material of M. lane-poolei ( Darbyshire 346, Eyma 4681) with the description of M. schlechteri gives only individual differences, except for the length of the pedicels ( 7 mm in both specimens) and the indumentum of the disc-lobes (glabrous or with a few hairs in the two specimens). We think that these differences are too small to keep the species separate and have united the two, making M. lane-poolei a synonym of M. schlechteri .