Lasianthus attenuatus var. attenuatus, Jack, Jack

a. var. attenuatus View in CoL — Map 2 View Map 2

Lasianthus attenuatus Jack (1823) View in CoL 126; Valeton (1927) 107; Merr. (1952) 229; Bakh.f. (1965) 338; K.M. Wong (1989) 367, p.p.; H.Zhu (2002) 72. — Mephitidia attenuata (Jack) DC. (1830) View in CoL 452; Korth. (1851) 219. — Type: Jack s.n. (holo n.t.; iso L, barcode L0000674), Sumatra (Bencoolen).

Nonatelia? hispida Wall. ex Roxb. (1824) View in CoL 187. — Mephitidia wallichii Wight & Arn. (1834) View in CoL 390, in nota, nom. superfl. — Lasianthus wallichii (Wight & Arn.) Wight (1846) View in CoL 503; Hook.f. (1880) 180; Matsum. (1901) 16; Prain (1903) 576; Pit. (1924) 387; Craib (1934) 220; Hara & Gould (1979) 204; Wu (1984) 1259; Deb & M.Gangop. (1991) 307; H. Zhu (1994) 56; (1998) 157; H.J.Li & H.Y.Liu (1998) 295, pl. 133; H.S. Lo (1999) 73, pl. 18: 1–7; H.Zhu (2001b) 146,nom. superfl. — Type: De Silva s.n. ex Wall. Cat . 8442 (holo K), India, Silhet.

Mephitidia attenuata Jack var. glabra Korth. (1851) View in CoL 220. — Type: Korthals (n.v.), Sumatra, Singalang .

Lasianthus densifolius Miq.(1857) View in CoL 321; Craib (1934) 210; K.M. Wong (1989) 368, p.p. — Lectotype (here designated): Junghuhn s.n. (lecto L, barcode L0000679), Java, Ungaran.

Lasianthus plagiophyllus Hance (1875) View in CoL 196;T.S.Liu & J.M.Chao (1964) 147, f. 16. — Mephitidia plagiophylla (Hance) Nakai (1927) View in CoL 529. — Lasianthus wallichii (Wight & Arn.) Wight subsp. plagiophyllus (Hance) Wu & H.Zhu View in CoL in Zhu (1994) 57. — Type: Hance 18438 (holo BM, iso K), China, Hongkong.

Lasianthus densifolius Miq. var. calycinus King & Gamble (1904) View in CoL 122; Ridl. (1923a) 153. — Type: Ridley 5679 (n.v.), Singapore.

Lasianthus densifolius Miq. var. latifolia King & Gamble (1904) 122; Ridl. (1923a) 153. — Type: Ridley 10948 (lecto SING, designated by Wong 1989; isolecto K), Peninsular Malaysia, Johore.

Lasianthus brachyphyllus K.Schum. (1905) View in CoL 399; Valeton (1927) 106, syn. nov. — Type: Nyman n. 678 (n.v.), New Guinea.

Lasianthus copelandi Elmer (1906b) 10;Merr.(1907) 306; Elmer (1913) 1869; Merr. (1923) 566,syn. nov. — Type: E.B. Copeland s.n. (n.v.), Philippines, Negros.

Lasianthus bordeni Elmer (1906b) 11. — Type: Elmer 6977 (iso E, K), Philippines, Luzon , Bataan.

Lasianthus tonkinensis (Drake) Pit. (1924) View in CoL 376. — Mephitidia tonkinensis Drake (1895) View in CoL 240. — Type: Balansa 2656 (holo P; iso K), Tonkin, Bavi .

Lasianthus attenuatus Jack var. subsessilis Valeton (1927) View in CoL 108, syn. nov. — Type: Schlechter 17334 (holo B†), New Guinea.

Shrubs, 1– 2 m tall; branches and branchlets usually densely tomentose or sometimes setose. Leaves: blades oblong, elliptic-lanceolate or oblong-ovate, 5 –12 by 2.5 – 5 cm, membranaceous or subcoriaceous, subglabrous or hairy or tomentose beneath, rarely on both sides, apex acute to cuspidate-acuminate, base more or less oblique, slightly cordate, rarely rounded, midrib and nerves flat above, prominent beneath, nerves 6– 8 pairs, ascending at an angle of c. 60°, nervules subparallel, conspicuous beneath; petioles 1– 3 mm long, tomentose. Stipules triangular or ovate-lanceolate, 2 – 3 mm long, densely tomentose. Inflorescences cymose, sessile, 3–4-flowered, covered by persistent bracts; bracts subulate to lanceolate, 6 –15 mm long, tomentose. Flowers sessile, 10–15 mm long; calyx campanulate, 2 – 3 mm long, hirsute, with 5 triangular teeth, hirsute; corolla 10–12 mm long, 5-lobed, sparsely hirsute outside, villous inside. Drupes globose or ovoid, 5 –10 mm diam, crowned with lanceolate, hirsute calyx lobes; pyrenes 5.

Distribution — Nepal, Bhutan, NE India, China, S Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia (Peninsular and Borneo), Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands), Papua New Guinea.

Notes — Jack’s type specimens were destroyed with greater part of his undistributed duplicates by fire in 1824 ( Merrill 1952, Stafleu & Cowan 1979). Fortunately, a specimen of L. attenuatus with Jack’s own handwriting on the label was traced in L by Merrill (1952), which greatly helps us to interpret this name. Lasianthus attenuatus is a widely distributed species in tropical Asia. Several different specific and varietal names were used by different authors. Lasianthus wallichii was used for the populations from India, Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indochina, and SW China; L. plagiophyllus was used for the population from the Philippines (also L. bodinieri and L. copelandi ), Taiwan, SE China; L. densifolius for the populations from Malaysia (also L. bractescens ) and Java, and L. attenuatus for the one from Sumatra. In New Guinea, a variety of L. attenuatus was established (and also L. brachyphyllus ). These species and varieties were recognized based mainly on variation of indumentum (e.g. hairs on both sides of leaves, on lower surface or both lower surface and midrib above), leaf-blade shapes (oblong or attenuated to the apex), length of petioles, etc. However, these characteristics vary continuously through almost the whole of its geographical area and show no clear geographically distinct groups.

Specimens that were identified as L. copelandii from the Philippines were a mixture of L. attenuatus and L. cyanocarpus . According to Merrill’s original description, L. copelandii has oblong or oblong-lanceolate leaves with acuminate apex and unequally subcordate bases, and lanceolate bracts. These match L. attenuatus better than L. cyanocarpus . Therefore, L. copelandii is considered to be conspecific with L. attenuatus although its type has not been seen.

The type of L. brachyphyllus could be in Berlin. However, there is no folder of type specimens of Lasianthus in Berlin. It was certainly destroyed in the war in 1943. From original the descrip- tion and Valeton’s comments on it, L. brachyphyllus is mostly equal to L. wallichii Wight , i.e. the present L. attenuatus . After all collections from New Guinea in K and L were checked, we are sure that L. brachyphyllus is conspecific with L. attenuatus . Lasianthus densifolius var. latifolia , according to King & Gamble (1904) and one syntype in SING, differs from the typical variety in having broadly oblong leaves and multi-cellular stiff hairs on both sides of leaves and branches. These characters of stiff or setose hairs on plants are found frequently in the population of L. densifolius , and are not of clear demarcation. Lasianthus densifolius var. calycinus , also from King & Gamble’s descrip- tion, differs from the typical variety in having leaves glabrous above except for a very few scattered appressed hairs, strigose midrib, less than 8 pairs of nerves, and the drupes crowned by calyx-lobes which are as long as the drupes. In our observations, both var. calycinus and var. latifolia cannot be separated from the typical variety. We agree with Wong (1989) who sank L. densifolius var. latifolia and var. calycinus .

Lasianthus attenuatus was often confused with L. cyanocarpus ( L. inaequalis Blume ). As pointed out by Merrill (1952), it strongly resembles L. cyanocarpus except in having different

bracts. Lasianthus attenuatus has linear to lanceolate bracts, while L. cyanocarpus has larger and cordate, ovate to broadly lanceolate, somewhere leaf-like bracts.

The syntype of L. densifolius in L (Junghuhn s.n.) agrees exactly with the type of L. wallichii . However, Hooker’s description and the cited specimen Wall. Cat . 8441 (K) as L. densifolius does not agree with Miquel’s type. It represents a different variety. King & Gamble (1904), Ridley (1923a) and Wong (1989) fol- lowed Hooker’s conception and mixed them. Here we treat the different variety as a new variety of L. attenuatus .