Leptopus Decne.

Leptopus Decne. View in CoL

Leptopus Decne. (1844) View in CoL 155; Pojark. (1960) 269; Airy Shaw (1972) 285; Whitmore (1973) 105; Airy Shaw (1982) 26, (1983) 33; G.L. Webster (1994) 40; Welzen (2000) 56, f. 7; Radcl.-Sm. (2001) 24; Welzen (2007) 352; Voronts. & Petra Hoffm.(2009) 627;G.L. Webster (2014) 66.— Type: Leptopus cordifolius Decne. View in CoL

[ Arachne View in CoL Neck. (1790) 348, suppressed publication, nom. inval.: Turland et al. (2018: art. 34.1 App. 1)]. — Andrachne View in CoL L. sect. Arachne Endl. (1840) View in CoL 1119. — Arachne (Endl.) Pojark. (1940) View in CoL 342. — Type: not indicated.

Hexakistra Hook.f. (1887) : 283, nom. inval., in syn.

Thelypetalum Gagnep. (1925 ‘1924’) 876. — Type: Thelypetalum pierrei Gagnep. (= Leptopus australis (Zoll. & Moritzi) Pojark. ).

Archileptopus P.T. Li (1991) View in CoL 38. — Type: Archileptopus fangdingianus P.T.Li View in CoL (= Leptopus fangdingianus (P.T.Li) Voronts. & Petra Hoffm. View in CoL ) (see WCSP 2021).

Herbs to subshrubs, ascending to erect, monoecious. Indumentum absent or of simple hairs. Stipules small, late caducous to persistent, not glandular. Leaves alternate, distichous, simple; petiole reniform in transverse section, not pulvinate; blade papery to coriaceous, eglandular, discolorous, margin entire, venation pinnate, nerves looped and closed near the margin, veins and veinlets reticulate, indistinct. Inflorescences axillary fascicles on the youngest branches, with a single to few flowers of both sexes, staminate ones forming after fruit formation / dehiscence, sometimes on short brachyblasts; bracts present, small, resembling stipules. Flowers pedicellate, 5-merous, actinomorphic; sepals 5, not to at most slightly accrescent, imbricate, herbaceous; petals 5(–6); disc outside stamens. Staminate flowers: pedicels filiform, with basal abscission zone; petals smaller to as long as sepals; disc of 5(–6) segments, often deeply bilobed (then seemingly 10 segments), lobes often rounded; stamens 5, free, alternipetalous, filaments filiform, an- thers opening latrorse with lengthwise slits; pistillode indistinct or 3-lobed or of 3 free parts. Pistillate flowers: pedicels widening towards apex, not articulate; petals small, hidden under disc; disc annular, divided into 5 parts; ovary 3(–4)-locular (seem- ing 4–5-locular in L. fangdingianus (P.T.Li) Voronts. & Petra Hoffm. View in CoL ), superior, globose; ovules 2 per locule; style minute, stigmas apically to almost completely split, apically broadened. Fruits faintly lobed to subglobose, capsular; columella slen- der, persistent, apically not or slightly broadened, glabrous to somewhat hairy. Seeds naked (micropylar fleshy appendages in L. emicans (Dunn) Pojark. View in CoL ), triangular in transverse section to reniform.

Distribution — Nine species, ranging from the Caucasus and Iran to the Himalayas, China, S and SE Asia and into Malesia (with a single species) east to the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Moluccas.