Lasianthus cyanocarpus Jack

37. Lasianthus cyanocarpus Jack View in CoL

Lasianthus cyanocarpus Jack (1823) View in CoL 125; Miq. (1857) 316; (1869) 245 (p.p. excl.syn. L. densifolius Miq. View in CoL ); Merr.(1952) 229;Bakh.f.(1965) 338. —

Type: Jack s.n. (lost), Sumatra, Tappanooly (west coast of Sumatra), Borssum 1864 (neo L, designated here), west coast, Lubuk Sikaping .

Lasianthus inaequalis Blume (1826 View in CoL –1827) 996; Miq. (1857) 316; King & Gamble (1904) 114; Elmer (1906b) 10; Merr. (1921) 578; (1923) 566; Ridl. (1923a) 155; Valeton (1927) 106;Merr.(1937) 298; K.M. Wong (1989) 370; H.Zhu (2001b) 131, syn.nov. — Type: Blume s.n. (lecto L, here designated, barcode L0000688; isolecto K), Java, Seribu.

Lasianthus cyanocarpus Jack var. subsessilis King & Gamble (1904) View in CoL 113. — Syntypes: Ridley 9730 (n.v.), Perk; King’s collector 472 (K); Scortechini 1207 (K).

Lasianthus subinaequalis King & Gamble (1904) View in CoL 120;Ridl.(1923a) 155; Craib (1934) 218. — Syntypes: King’s collector 157 (n.v.), 3358 (n.v.), Ridley 9715 (SING), Wray 2588 (SING), 3451 (SING), Peninsular Malaysia, Perak.

Lasianthus bractescens Ridl.(1918) View in CoL 85; (1923a) 154;K.M. Wong (1989) 370, syn. nov. — Type: Ridley 8213 (syn K), Peninsular Malaysia, Selangor, Batu Caves .

Lasianthus bractescens Ridl. var. rosulatus Ridl. (1918) 85; (1923a) 154, syn. nov. — Type: Ridley s.n. (n.v.), Peninsular Malaysia, Perak.

Lasianthus inaequalis Blume var. angustibractea Valeton (1927) 107, syn nov. — Type: Schlechter 19334 (syn K), New Guinea.

Shrubs; branches terete, 1.5–2 mm diam, densely tomentose. Leaves: blades elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate-oblong, 8–13.5 by 2.5–4.5 cm, membranaceous,glabrous except tomentose midrib and puberulous nerves above, or all tomentose, softly tomentose beneath, apex shortly acuminate or caudate, base rounded, oblique or oblique cordate, midrib conspicuous above,prominent beneath, nerves 7–10 pairs, flat above, prominent beneath, ascending at an angle of c. 50°, curved to the margin, nervules obscure above, distinct beneath, subreticulate; petioles short, c. 2 mm long, densely tomentose. Stipules linear, inconspicuous, densely tomentose, deciduous. Cymes sessile; bracts numerous, densely tomentose, outer ones leaf-like, broadly ovate, abruptly acuminate at apex, up to 1.8 cm long, long-tomentose, inner ones becoming smaller. Flowers sessile; calyx campanulate with 4–5 deep unequal lanceolate or linear-lanceolate tomentose 3–4 mm long lobes; corolla short, 4–5-lobed, glabrous inside, long yellow pilose outside. Drupes ovoid, sparsely pilose, crowned by the persistent calyx lobes; pyrenes 4, rugose.

Distribution — Thailand, Malaysia (Peninsular, Borneo), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Islands, Irian Jaya), Philippines, Papua New Guinea.

Notes — As mentioned earlier in this paper, Jack’s holos were destroyed by fire in 1824. The type of L. cyanocarpus was certainly lost. The name L. cyanocarpus has been misused for the species L. hirsutus for a long time and in many taxonomic references as pointed out by Merrill (1952).

A specimen Blume s.n. (L0000688) from Seribu of Java indicated as L. inaequalis with Blume’s handwriting is recognised to be a syntype and here designated as lectotype because more than one locality was mentioned in Blume’s original description. Miquel (1869) reduced L. inaequalis to a synonym of L. cyanocarpus . Merrill (1952) confirmed that L. inaequalis from Java is conspecific to L. cyanocarpus . Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr (1965) followed Miquel and Merrill in the treatments of Java Lasianthus . From Jack’s description L. cyanocarpus has large cordate bracts, which is a key diagnostic character.After checking all Malesian specimens, we are sure that L. inaequalis is conspecific to L. cyanocarpus . Miquel’s and Merrill’s treatments are correct.

Lasianthus cyanocarpus is very closely related to L. attenuatus , but differs from the latter by having cordate to broadly lanceolate, somewhere leaf-like bracts. Lasianthus cyanocarpus differs from L. hirsutus by having relatively small leaves with cordate, slightly oblique bases, usually less and relatively small bracts. Lasianthus hirsutus has relatively large leaves with cuneate, little unequal base; relatively long petioles; conspicuous triangular stipules; more bracts with outer ones ovate-oblong, and leaf-like, inner ones gradually narrower and smaller; as well as usually long rough hairs cover.

From Ridley’s description, L. bractescens var. rosulatus has oblong, broad and sessile leaves with unequal base; bracts ovate acute, forming a rosette, which strongly suggest it is the same species as L. cyanocarpus although its type is not seen.