Lasianthus ferrugineus King & Gamble

44. Lasianthus ferrugineus King & Gamble View in CoL

Lasianthus ferrugineus King & Gamble (1904) View in CoL 130. —

Type: Wray 3911 (holo SING; iso K), Peninsular Malaysia, Perak, 4500 ft.

Shrubs to treelets; c. 2 m high; branchlets terete, robust, c. 3 mm diam, densely brown-tomentose. Leaves: blades oblong-lanceolate, 12–15 by 2.5– 3.5 cm, subcoriaceous, tomentose on both surfaces but denser beneath, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate, base broadly cuneate to subrounded, slightly asymmetric, dark-brown when dry, midrib dense brown-tomentose on both surfaces, prominent beneath, nerves 14–18 pairs, flat above, prominent beneath, ascending at an angle of c. 70°, curved to the margin, nervules obscure above, distinct beneath, reticulate; petioles c. 5 mm long, densely brown-tomentose. Stipules triangular, 3–4 mm long, densely brown-tomentose. Cymes sessile, bracts absent. Flowers sessile; calyx tubular-campanulate, densely tomentose, c. 3 mm long, with 5 lanceolate or subulate lobes; corolla not seen. Drupes subglobose, densely brown-tomentose, 3–4 mm diam; pyrenes 5 –6, verrucose on the abaxial face, thick-walled.

Distribution — Peninsular Malaysia.

Habitat & Ecology — In upper montane rainforest. Flowering and fruiting in March and April.

Notes — This species is similar to L. pilosus , especially in the indumentum. Wong (1989) reduced L. ferrugineus to a synonym of L. pilosus . However, it differs from the latter by having leaves with broad-cuneate bases, longer petioles and shorter calyx lobes. We think it is better to keep it as a separate species.

This species differs from L. hirtus by having relatively small triangular stipules, oblong-lanceolate leaves 12.5–15 cm long, with 14–18 paired-nerves. From King, it differs from L. harveyanus King & Gamble by having leaves sparsely hairy above, shorter hairy beneath, oblong-lanceolate, nerves 16–18; calyx with 5 deep lanceolate lobes; while the latter has leaves scabrid puberulous, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, nerves 4–6 pairs, calyx narrowly campanulate.