Hydnophytum confertifolium Merr. & L.M.Perry

18. Hydnophytum confertifolium Merr. & L.M.Perry View in CoL — Fig. 21 View Fig

Hydnophytum confertifolium Merr. & L.M.Perry (1945) 17. — Type: Brass 12680 (lectotype selected here A; iso L), New Guinea, Papua Province, Idenburg (Taritatu) river , 18 km SW of Bernhard Camp, Feb. 1939 .

Tuber small, c. 5–10 cm across. Spines scattered, simple to branched, to 1 cm long. Stems several, densely branched, to 20 by 0.5 cm; internodes short, to 0.1 cm towards stem apices. Leaves clustered at stem apices and recurved along their length and width. Lamina subrotund, 0.3 by 0.2 to 0.5 by 0.4 cm; apex blunt to acute; base truncate to cuneate. Petiole 0.1–0.2 cm; stipules triangular, papery, caducous. Inflorescence a pair of small alveoli, bearing a single flower or fruit. Flowers [1] not heterostylous. Calyx 1.5 mm, margin 4-cuspidate. Corolla tube 7.5 mm, lobes 2 mm, inner surface of lobes with very short papillae, which grade into short hairs at the mouth of the tube; unci to 0.7 mm. Anthers within mouth of tube, to 1 mm. Stigma 2-fid, at same level as anthers. Fruit red, to 6 mm long. Pyrenes hemispherical, 3 by 2 mm; apex rounded; base tapered.

Ecology & Habitat — High-level epiphyte of mossy forest, 2 150–2 600 m.

Distribution — Indonesia (Papua Province).

Conservation status — Vulnerable (VU) under criteria D2 with only two locations known about 110 km apart.

Additional specimen examined: Mangen 2128 (A, L) S4°24' E139°37', Valentijn Mts Trail between Koruppun and Angguruk.

Note — The tuber spines of the type specimen are unusual for Hydnophytum , a character only shared by the type specimen of H. ramispinum [25], which comes from the same mountain.