Lasianthus purpureus Blume

101. Lasianthus purpureus Blume View in CoL

Lasianthus purpureus Blume (1826 View in CoL –1827) 1000; Miq. (1857) 324; (1869) 249; Bakh.f. (1965) 336. — Type: Blume s.n. (lecto L, designated here, barcode L0057519 ), Java.

Lasianthus umbellatus Kuntze (1891) View in CoL 290; Bakh.f. (1965) 336, syn. nov. — Possible type: Kuntze 4565 (NY), Java, Tjiboday .

Lasianthus glaber Scheff. ex Valeton (1914) View in CoL 293, t. 400. — Type: Valeton s.n. (holo L, barcode L0012041 ), Java, Preanger, Tjibodas .

Treelets, up to 4 m high; branchlets terete or slightly com- pressed in the youngest part, c. 2 mm diam, glabrous. Leaves: blades lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 12– 20 by 2 – 3.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate, base acute, midrib and nerves prominent on both surfaces, nerves 5 – 6 pairs, ascending at an angle of over 60°, curved to the margin, nervules distinct and prominent on both surfaces, reticulate; petioles c. 1 cm long, glabrous. Stipules small, subulate, c. 1 mm long, glabrous. Cymes sessile, tuberculate; bracts absent. Flowers fascicular, pediceled; pedicels 8 –10 mm long, glabrous; calyx c. 1.5– 2 mm long, glabrous, tube obconic, c. 1 mm long, limbs shallowly campanulate, c. 0.5–1 mm long, minutely 4-toothed; corolla tubular, up to 8 mm long, tube glabrous outside, lobes 4, lanceolate, c. 3 mm long, puberulous at the apex outside. Drupes subglobose, up to 6 mm diam, conspicuously 4-ridged, glabrous, verrucose; pyrenes 4, verrucose on the abaxial face.

Distribution — Indonesia (Sumatra, Java).

Notes — Lasianthus purpureus is a glabrous plant. It has oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves with clearly reticulate nervules, flowers fascicled with usually more than 5 mm long pedicels, calyx limb truncate to 4-dentate, drupes with usually 4-ribbed, verrucose and 4 pyrenes.

Lasianthus umbellatus cannot clearly be separated from L. purpureus . Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr. separated L. umbellatus from L. purpureus by its dentate calyx limb, shorter (5– 8 mm long) corolla, 4 ribbed drupes and lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves; while L. purpureus has truncate calyx limb, 9–10 mm long corolla, 2–5 but usually 4 ribbed drupes and lineari-lanceolate leaves. However, the diagnostic characters given by Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr. separating these two species are not strong.

In Blume’s description of this species, more than one locality was mentioned. The sheet barcode L0057519 with Blume’s handwriting and a local name Kahitutung on the label which matches most to the protologue, is recognised to be a syntype and chosen here as lectotype.