Cinnamomum calciphilum Kosterm.

3. Cinnamomum calciphilum Kosterm. View in CoL — Map 1 View Map 1

Cinnamomum calciphilum Kosterm.(1969) 456; (1970b) 34;J.A.R. Anderson (1980) 222. — Type: Anderson S 15285 View Materials (holo BO; iso K, L, SAR, SING), Sarawak, Bau district , Gunung Staat .

Cinnamomum arbusculum Kosterm. (1970b) 31; J. A. R. Anderson (1980) 222, syn. nov. — Type: Anderson S 4726 (holo SAR; iso BO), Sarawak, Miri district , Gunung Mulu National Park, Gunung Api .

Small tree to 12 m tall, to 10 cm diam. Bark greyish brown. Twigs slender or stout, terete, 1– 2 mm diam, apically subangular, minute straight appressed hairy when young, glabrescent, brownish to dark brown. Terminal buds not perulate, conical, 2– 3 mm long, densely covered with straight appressed hairs. Leaves opposite or subopposite, pale yellowish brown, triplinerved or trinerved, coriaceous or thickly coriaceous, glabrous below; blade not bullate, without domatia, ovate, broadly ovate, oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, (1.5–)4–13 by (1.5–)2– 5(– 6) cm, base rounded, cuneate, or cordate, apex acute with blunt tip; midrib flat above, smoothly raised below, to 1 mm broad; lateral veins flat above, smoothly raised below, extending to 2/3 of blade length; major intercostal veins slender, subscalariform or reticulate, if subscalariform 2– 4 mm apart, less prominent than midrib; minor intercostal veins indistinct, reticulate; petiole slender, flat above, sparsely minute-appressed hairy, 0.5 – 2.5 cm long, 1–2 mm diam. Inflorescences axillary and/or subterminal, slender, lax, paniculate-cymose with first order branching, 4 –10 cm long; rachis to 1 mm broad, minutely hairy. Flowers drying greyish to reddish brown, appressed hairy; pedicels slender, 2 –4 mm long; hypanthium c. 2 mm high; perianth lobes broadly ovate, c. 2 mm long, covered with curly hairs outside, straight appressed hairy inside; fertile stamens c. 2 mm long, anthers 4-locular, broadly ovoid, filaments c. 1/2 the length of the stamen; glands shortly stalked attached on each side at the middle of filaments; staminodes 1–1.5 mm long, sagittate; ovary subglobose, c. 2 mm across, stigma trilobed. Fruits ovoid, c. 1 by 0.5 cm; cupule crateriform, shallow, 2 –3 mm high, 5– 6 mm diam, rim entire, undulating, minute-appressed hairy or glabrous; perianth lobes caducous; pedicel stout, 2 –4 mm long, minute-appressed hairy or glabrous.

Distribution — Endemic to Borneo: known only from Sarawak (Bau, Kuching and Miri districts).

Habitat & Ecology — Restricted to limestone hills where it is frequently found on peat soil at altitudes to 1300 m.

Note — The type specimens of C. arbusculum and C. calciphilum can be differentiated on the basis of tree size ( 1 m tall vs 3 –12 m tall), petiole length (stout, 5 –8 mm long vs slender, 1–2 cm long), leaf texture (very rigidly coriaceous vs rigidly coriaceous), leaf size (2– 5 by 3 –7 cm vs 2 – 4 by 4 –12 cm), leaf shape (ovate to ovate-suborbicular vs ovate-elliptical to lanceolate), leaf base (sub-cordate or rarely rounded vs shortly acute). However, after having re-examined the types and additional specimens, I find that both taxa cannot be maintained as different species. The differences seen in C. arbusculum and C. calciphilum measurement in height, petiole length and leaf blade strongly correlate with altitude, and. C. arbusculum may well be a dwarf form of C. calciphilum . Both species are restricted to limestone habitat but differ in that C. arbusculum is found in montane forest at altitudes to 1300 m and C. calciphilum in lowlands. Specimen S 37382 View Materials from lowland limestone is an intermediate form between the two species in having both types of leaf shape (ovate, elliptical and lanceolate) and base (rounded, acute and sub-cordate base). More importantly, the cupules of both species are of the same type in being small, with caducous perianth lobes and undulating rim. The venations of both species are similar in that the lateral veins extend 2/3 of the blade length and the minor intercostal veins are densely and minutely reticulate. This agrees with Kostermans’ observation on the lower leaf surfaces of C. calciphilum (“obscurely densely pitted”) and C. arbusculum (“obscurely, minutely subareolatereticulate”).