Actephila latifolia Benth.

6. Actephila latifolia Benth. View in CoL — Map 4 View Map 4

Actephila latifolia Benth. (1873) View in CoL 89; F.M. Bailey (1902) 1414; Pax & K.Hoffm. (1922) 194; Airy Shaw (1980c) 587; (1982) 4; P.I.Forst. (2005) 74, f. 5. — Lectotype (designated by Airy Shaw 1980c): Daemel s.n. (holo K, photo BRI), Australia, Queensland, Cape York; other former syntype: Dallachy s.n. (not seen), [ Australia,] Queensland, Rockingham Bay.

Shrubs to tree(let)s, up to 5 m high, dbh up to 5 cm; flowering branches 1–3 mm diam, with few brown lenticels, somewhat sericeous at tips. Bark nondescript; blaze thick, pinkish red; wood dense, cream-yellow. Indumentum : subglabrous on branches, brachyblasts and sepals. Stipules deltoid to broadly ovate, 0.8–1.3 by 0.8–1.3 mm, glabrous, often somewhat folded horizontally. Leaves alternate to subopposite at branch ends; petioles 3–22 mm long, glabrous, completely pulvinate to pulvinate at both ends; blade 6.5–14.9 by 3.2–6.9 cm, 1.9–2.4(–3) times as long as wide, pergamentaceous, base slightly attenuate to acute, margin flat, apex obtuse to acute to slightly acuminate, abaxially glabrous; nerves 7–10 per side. Flowers white to cream-yellow, solitary to paired or fascicled, on older branches on small brachyblasts; pedicels not widening towards apex, glabrous; sepals: apex rounded or somewhat obtuse; petals: apex rounded, not erose; disc a thick, fleshy, wide ring. Staminate flowers c. 4 mm diam; pedicels c. 7 mm long; sepals ovate to elliptic, c. 2.8 by 1.8 mm, margin slightly membranous; petals c. 1 by 0.5 mm; disc hanging over the base of the sepals; stamens: filaments c. 2 mm long. Pistillate flowers c. 4 mm diam; pedicel 6–35 mm long; sepals ovate to elliptic to obovate, widest just below to in the middle, 2–3.3 by 1–3.3 mm; petals c. 1.2 by 0.6 mm; disc pale yellow, substan- tially covering base of sepals in fruit; ovary c. 0.8 by 1–1.4 mm, glabrous, stigmas 0.8–2 mm long. Fruits c. 10 mm diam, green; pedicels 15–35 by 0.7–0.8 mm, barely widening towards apex, glabrous, smooth to striate when dry; sepals slightly enlarging, 4.5–5(–5.5) by 2.5–4.5(–5) mm, glabrous on both sides, reflexed; wall with knobbly surface, thin, glabrous; columella 6–8 mm long. Seeds c. 8.5 mm long, c. 7 mm wide, c. 7 mm high; widened seeds not seen.

Distribution — Moluccas (Aru Isl.), Lesser Sunda Islands (Tanimbar, Timor), Australia (Queensland).

Habitat & Ecology — Riverine to rain forest bordering savan- nah, semi-deciduous to complex notophyll vine-forest. Soil: sand, granite.Altitude: 10– 480 m. Flowering: January; fruiting: March–May, October.

Vernacular name — Aru Islands (P. Trangan): Balabal.

Note — Typical for this species are the small deltoid stipules, which often have a horizontal fold in the middle. The petioles are short, the leaf blades are relatively constant in size and generally up to 15 by 7 cm with an acute or obtuse apex. The calyx slightly enlarges in fruit to generally c. 5 by 4 mm. The persistent disc is wide, thick and fleshy, covering the base of the sepals. The septa often look weak and thin, not as sturdy as in other species, however, this may be due to underdevelopment.