Actephila subsessilis Gagnep.

10. Actephila subsessilis Gagnep. View in CoL — Map 7 View Map 7

Actephila subsessilis Gagnep. (1924) 569; (1927) 534. ― Syntypes: Bon 667 (P 2 sheets), [ Vietnam,] Tonkin, région de Ninh-binh, Hao-nho; Bon 2102 (P), [ Vietnam,] Tonkin, région de Hanoï, Kiên-khé, dans les monts Dong-hâm; Bon 5726 (P 3 sheets), [ Vietnam,] Prov. Thanh-hoa, Mâk-són; Eberhardt 4263 (P 2 sheets),[ Vietnam,] Prov. Hoa-binh,Mai-chau; Pételot 1172 (P), [ Vietnam,] Cho-ganh; Pételot 1173 (P 2 sheets), [ Vietnam,] Cho-ganh; Pételot 1275 (P 3 sheets; one noted as 127 in JSTOR website), [ Vietnam,] Cho-ganh; Poilane 1658 (P 2 sheets),[ Vietnam,] Annam,Thanhhóa (collector numbers of Pételot not mentioned by Gagnepain 1924).

Actephila excelsa (Dalzell) Müll.Arg. var. acuminata Airy Shaw (1972) View in CoL 209; Whitmore (1973) 52. — Type: Ridley s.n. (holo K), Malaysia, Selangor, Batu caves.

Shrubs to trees; flowering branches with brown lenticels, puberulous, 1.2–3 mm diam. Indumentum : most parts subglabrous. Stipules triangular or ovate, 2–3 by 0.8–1 mm, outside some- what sericeous when young. Leaves: petioles 1–6(–8) mm long, completely pulvinate, puberulous when young, glabrescent; blade elliptic, 5.6–15 by 2.1–5.2 cm, 2.3–3.7 times as long as wide, papyraceous, base obtuse or acute, margin flat, apex cuspidate to gradually tapering into a widely cuspidate apex, abaxially basally somewhat puberulous on blade and venation; nerves 9–15 per side. Flowers solitary or paired, probably forming small brachyblasts when older. Staminate flowers unknown. Pistillate flowers c. 4 mm diam, yellow; pedicels 12–30 mm long, widening towards apex, slightly sericeous towards apex; sepals ovate to elliptic or diamond shaped, widest just below the middle, c. 2–3 by 1–1.5 mm, apex obtuse; petals 0.8–1 by 0.4–0.8 mm, apex truncate to rounded, erose; disc a thin, narrow ring, slightly covering the base of the sepals in fruit; ovary c. 0.8 by 1.1 mm, glabrous, stigmas c. 0.5 mm long. Fruits green, c. 15 mm diam, pendent; pedicels 17–32 by 0.5–1 mm, somewhat curved, glabrous to sericeous; sepals not elongating, reflexed; fruit wall slightly knobbly outside and with a slightly elevated reticulate venation pattern, glabrous (to slightly sericeous), thin; columella short, sturdy, 4–6 mm long, basally completely covering disc and base of sepals, fibrous after dehiscence. Seeds 7–9.5 mm long, 6–7.5 mm wide, 5–6 mm high, widened seeds c. 8 mm long, 9.5–10.5 mm wide, 6–7 mm high.

Distribution — Thailand, Vietnam, Malay Peninsula.

Habitat & Ecology — Only found on limestone. Altitude: 50– 550 m. Flowering: April, July; fruiting: September, Decem- ber, January.

Note — This species is vegetatively easily confused with A. ovalis , also present in the Malay Peninsula.Differences are the wavy instead of straight leaf blade margin of A. ovalis , and the accrescent calyx in A. ovalis up to 10–22 by 9–13 mm (against c. 2 by 1.4 mm in A. subsessilis ).