Argyreia obtecta C.B.Clarke var. acutifolia Gagnep.

Argyreia obtecta C.B.Clarke var. acutifolia Gagnep. View in CoL in Lecomte, FL. Indo-Chine 4: 276. 1915. Syntypes: LAOS, Bassac, s.d., Thorel 2376 (P [ P03560852 digital image!]; iso E [ E00616984 image!], SING [ SING0127711 About SING !]). Vietnam, Cochinchine, Pierre s.n. (P); Thailand. Chiang Mai, Kerr s.n. ( P) . Fig. 9f–i View Fig

A woody climber grows up to height of 20–25 ft height; stems woody towards the base, herbaceous towards apex, white appressed shiny tomentose. Leaf lamina narrowly elliptic, 6–12 × 1.5–4, base cuneate, apex acute to narrowly acute, secondary veins 10–12 pairs, raised prominently abaxially, white shiny sericeous beneath, strigose adaxially; petiole 2–6 cm long, white sericeous, dorsally grooved. Inflorescence axillary 2–5-flowered cymes; peduncle 1–5 cm long, white sericeous, usually shorter than the petiole, flower bracteate, pedicellate; pedicels 5–8 mm, white sericeous like stem; bracts lance-ovate, 2, 8–10 × 4–5 mm, white shiny tomentose outer, glabrous inner. Sepals 5, ovate, 7–10 mm long, outer two wider than inner three, apex obtuse, enlarges in fruiting, turns red inside in fruiting, densely brown hispid hairy outer, glabrous inner. Corolla infundibuliform, 5–6 cm long, 3–4 cm across, base narrow, pink colored, throat purple, densely brown hairy on midpetaline bands, corolla limb undulate. Stamens 5, included within corolla tube; unequal; filaments glandular hairy at base. Ovary glabrous, 2–4 celled; style filiform; stigma biglobose, white, papillose. Berries red, 7–8 mm across, 2–4-seeded; seeds black.

Flowering & Fruiting: Flowering from July to September and fruiting from October to December.

Habitat: Occurs in the evergreen forests of Andaman Islands.

Distribution: India (Andaman Islands), China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Etymology: The specific epithet ‘ mollis’ means ‘soft’ in latin, refers to soft silvery tomentum.

Specimens examined: INDIA, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, North Andaman, Saddle Peak , 1.12.1976, N. P . Balakrishnan & N. G . Nair 4751 ( PBL); South Andaman, Guptapara tidal forests, 20.11.1973, N. P . Balakrishnan 607 ( PBL) .

Notes: Argyreia mollis is closely allied to A. osyrensis (Roth. ex Roem. & Schult.) Choisy in having white tomentose lower surface of leaves, ovate sepals which turns red inside in fruiting and red colored berries. However, it differs in having narrowly elliptic leaves, included stamens and pistil.