Lasianthus hexandrus (Blume) Blume

54. Lasianthus hexandrus (Blume) Blume

Lasianthus hexandrus (Blume) Blume (1826 –1827) 998; Miq. (1857) 323; (1869) 249. — Mephitidia hexandra Blume (1823) View in CoL 51. —

Type: Blume s.n. (lecto L, designated here, barcode L0310418 ) . Paratypes: Blume s.n. ( L, barcode L0310419 ), Blume s.n. (L, barcode L0310420 ), Java, Salak .

Shrubs to treelets, up to 2.5 m high; branchlets terete, slender, c. 1 mm diam, densely appressed-hirsute. Leaves: blades lanceolate, 4–9 by 1–2 cm, subcoriaceous, glabrous above except hirsute midrib, pubescent beneath, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate, base acute to obtuse, nerves relatively slender, flat or slightly depressed above, prominent beneath, 6–7 pairs, ascending at an angle of 70–80°, curved to the margin, nervules obscure above, slender and distinct beneath, subparallel; petioles 3–4 mm long, densely appressed-hirsute. Stipules triangular, 1.5– 2 mm long, densely appressed-hirsute. Cymes sessile; bracts absent. Flowers usually solitary; calyx tubular-campanulate, hirsute, divided near to the base, tube c. 1.5 mm long, lobes 4–6, oblong-lanceolate, c. 3 mm long, long-hirsute outside, glabrous inside; corolla not seen. Drupes subglobose, c. 4 mm diam, hirsute, 4-obtuse-ridged, crowned by oblong-lanceolate calyx lobes; pyrenes 4.

Distribution — Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan).

Notes — This species has appressed-hirsute hairs on branches, leaves beneath, leaf midrib above and calyx, lanceolate leaves with an acuminate apex and acute base, calyx divided near to the base (lobes lanceolate longer than tube, just like L. curtisii ), hirsute drupes crowned by oblong-lanceolate calyx lobes. According to Blume (1826 –1827), this species has 6-merous flowers (hexandrus). According to Miquel (1869), the flowers are 5-merous. In our observation (Sumatra, J.A. LÖrzing 11395), it has 4–6 oblong-lanceolate calyx lobes, drupes with 4 pyrenes.

Lasianthus hexandrus differs from L. curtisii by having appressed-hirsute hairs on branches, leaves beneath and leaf midrib above, lanceolate leaves and drupes with 4 pyrenes. Lasianthus curtisii has spreading villose hairs on branches and leaves beneath, leaf midrib glabrous above, leaves oblong or ovate-oblong, drupes with 5 pyrenes. Lasianthus hexandrus differs from L. chrysotrichus in having appressed-hirsute hairs on branchlets and leaf nerves beneath. Lasianthus chrysotrichus has spreading hirsute hairs on branches and leaves nerves beneath.