Blumeodendron philippinense Merr. & Rolfe

7. Blumeodendron philippinense Merr. & Rolfe View in CoL — Fig. 7 View Fig ; Map 6 View Map 6

Blumeodendron philippinense Merr.& Rolfe (in Merr.1920) 555; Merr.(1923) 429.— Type: FB (Topacio) 20054 (holo PNH lost;iso L), Philippines, Luzon, Bataan Prov., Mount Mariveles .

Trees, to 15 m high, dbh to 45 cm; flowering branches c. 5 mm diam, generally round, with fast fading orange lepidote hairs, internodes c. 4 cm long. Leaves alternate; petiole 3.9–8.9 cm long, diam of thinnest part 1.5–2 mm, round with groove above, basal pulvinus c. 3 mm diam, with lepidote hairs, orange, early caducous; blade ovate, 7.8–21 by 3.7–10.2 cm, length/width ratio 2–2.3, coriaceous, symmetric, glabrous, base broadly cuneate to attenuate, margin recurved, apex acuminate, both surfaces smooth, glossy, upper dark green, lower pale green, adaxial surface browner than abaxial surface when dry, extrafloral nectaries along margin 6–7; venation: marginal vein indistinct, secondary nerves 5–6 pairs, usually parallel, at c. 33° angle with midrib, tertiary nerves perpendicular to midrib and/ or only to secondary nerves, higher order nerves indistinct. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, only consisting of an up to 1.3 cm long rachis, staminate ones 3–4 together, pistillate ones single or 2 per node; latter inflorescences thickening after fertilization, to 2.5 mm diam; lepidote hairs present, orange. Staminate flowers seen in bud: pedicel c. 3 mm long; buds c. 4 mm diam, c. 6 per inflorescence; rest unknown. Pistillate flowers seen in fruiting stage; upper part of pedicel above abscission zone c. 3 mm long; sepals 5, ovate, c. 2 by 2 mm; disc very c. 1 mm high; ovary 2–3-locular, style c. 0.8 mm long, stigmas c. 3 mm long. Fruits subglobular, c. 2 per inflorescence, up to 3 cm in width when immature, green (probably unripe), surface knobbly; pedicel c. 6 mm long, to c. 3.5 mm diam, abscission zone basally; wall c. 1 mm thick, drying brown; endocarp enclosing two or more seeds; stigma mostly persistent. Seeds not seen mature.

Distribution — Philippines, endemic on Luzon in Bataan Prov.

Habitat & Ecology — Secondary forest on a slope with brown soil. Altitude: c. 650 m. Flowering: January, October; fruiting: May, December.

Note — Distinctive for this species are the alternate, coriaceous leaves and the very short inflorescences. The short inflorescences are reminiscent of B. kurzii (leaves in whorls) and alternate leaves are found in various species, but all with longer inflorescences except for B. borneense from the Malay Peninsula, but the latter form has light green dried leaves instead of brown dry leaves.