Actephila stipularis Heijkoop & Welzen, 2017

9. Actephila stipularis Heijkoop & Welzen View in CoL , sp. nov. — Fig. 7 View Fig ; Map 6 View Map 6

Resembles A. lindleyi most closely in having thick, short, sturdy pedicels paired with a thin nectar disc in fruit, similar petiole lengths and long,slender leaf blades. Typical for A. stipularis are large stipules, flattened petioles, and a smooth fruit wall surface. — Type: Coode 5916 (holo L 2 sheets; iso K), Indonesia, Sulawesi, Luwuk area, Sulawesi Tengah, Biak to Poh road; S0°49' E122°47'.

Shrubs, up to 1.2 m high, monocaul to sparsely branched with 1 or 2 short branches; flowering branches 5–8 mm diam, with brown lenticels. Indumentum : subglabrous on petioles, leaves and sepals. Stipules large, triangular or ovate, c. 8 by 3 mm, glabrous. Leaves: petioles 4–18 mm long, sometimes some- what sericeous, completely pulvinate, somewhat flattened, becoming corky with age; blade elliptic to sometimes slightly obovate, 13.3–37.5 by 4.9–9.3, 2.7–4 times as long as wide, papyraceous to pergamentaceous, base acute to somewhat obtuse, margin flat, apex gradually tapering into a widely cuspidate apex, tip acute, abaxially sometimes somewhat sericeous on midrib, often glabrous; nerves c.14 per side. Flowers solitary to paired to fascicled on brachyblasts after several seasons, white. Staminate flowers not seen. Pistillate flowers not seen, in fruit: white; sepals ovate, widest just below the middle, c. 5 by 3 mm, apex obtuse; petals c. 1.5 by 1.3 mm, apex slightly emarginate, erose; disc a narrow, thin ring, slightly covering base of sepals in fruit. Fruits c. 2 cm diam, green; pedicels thick, c. 12 by 1.5 mm, slightly wider at apex, straight, glabrous, stri- ate when dry; sepals not enlarging, reflexed; fruit wall smooth, thin, with 6 indistinct lines of dehiscence; columella c. 10 mm long, basally completely covering the disc, slightly covering the base of the sepals, fibrous after dehiscence. Seeds c. 10 mm long, c. 8 mm wide, c. 7 mm high; widened seeds not seen.

Distribution — Sulawesi (known from type only).

Habitat & Ecology — Forest in steep valleys. Soil: upraised coralline limestone. Altitude: 300 m. Flowering and fruiting: October.

Note — Typical for the species are the large stipules of c. 8 by 3 mm, in combination with large leaf blades and big fruits on sturdy, thick, short pedicels. The petioles are wide and appear

to be flattened. The fruits are completely smooth on the surface and lines of dehiscence are indistinct.