Lasianthus capitatus Blume

19. Lasianthus capitatus Blume View in CoL

Lasianthus capitatus Blume (1826 View in CoL –1827) 996; Miq. (1857) 320; (1869) 246; Merr. (1921) 577; Bakh.f. (1965) 337. — Mephitidia capitata (Blume) DC. (1830) View in CoL 453. —

Type: Blume s.n. p.p. (the part from Java, non Sumatra) (lecto L, designated here, barcode L0310036 ), Java .

Shrubs; branchlets terete, c. 3 mm diam, densely tomentose. Leaves: blades oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 10–15 by 3 –3.5 cm, coriaceous, glabrous above, tomentose beneath, apex acuminate, base acute or cuneate, midrib and nerves flat or slightly depressed above, prominent beneath, nerves 7–8 pairs, ascending at an angle of 40–50°, curved to the margin, nervules obscure above, slightly prominent beneath, parallel; petioles 5– 8 mm long, densely tomentose. Stipules narrowly triangular, c. 3 mm long, densely tomentose. Cymes pedunculate; peduncles 0.2–2 cm long, stout, densely tomentose; bracts linear, 0.5–1 cm long, densely tomentose. Flowers sessile; calyx densely long-villose, tube 1–2 mm long, lobes 6, linear, up to 12 mm long; corolla tube c. 10 mm long, long-villose outside, lobes 6, ovate-triangular, c. 3 mm long, long-villose outside, floccose inside. Drupes subglobose, c. 8 mm diam, densely tomentose, crowned by persistent linear calyx lobes; pyrenes 6.

Distribution — Indonesia (Java and Lesser Sunda Islands).

Notes — The herbarium sheet with barcode L0310036 is a mixture containing two distinct species respectively from Java and Sumatra; the lectotype of L. capitatus is the one from Java. Lasianthus capitatus is similar to L. chevalieri from mainland SE Asia. It differs in having pedunculate cymes, 7–8 pairs of nerves, conspicuously villose linear bracts and relatively small flowers. Lasianthus chevalieri has sessile and ebracteate cymes, 11 pairs of nerves, relatively large flowers with the calyx tube 5–6 mm long, the calyx lobes 13–14 mm long, the corolla tube 13 mm long and the corolla lobes c. 8 mm long.

Lasianthus capitatus has peduncles, which vary from almost subsessile to 1– 2 cm long even in the same specimen. The inferior peduncles are usually longer and the superior ones are shorter. A variety of short peduncles cannot be clearly recognized (e.g. var. sessilis Blume in sheets and var. subsessilis Miq. in sheets).