Macaranga nicobarica
N.P.Balakr. & Chakr. in Gard. Bull. Singapore 31(1): 57. 1978;
Whitmore in Gard. Bull. Singapore 31(1): 55. 1978.
Trees or shrubs, 3 - 10 m tall; branchlets densely pubescent. Leaves alternate to
subopposite, broadly ovate, rounded and peltate for up to 17 cm inside the lamina at base,
entire, short acuminate at apex, 50 - 100 x 40 - 75 cm, chartaceous to subcoriaceous; young
leaves densely rufous tomentose; mature leaves subglabrous above, sparsely pilose and minutely
red-lepidote or reddish glandular beneath, palmatinerved at base with 5 or 7 main nerves; lateral
nerves 10 - 12 pairs form midrib; cross nervules scalariform-reticulate; petioles 30 - 75 cm long;
stipules lanceolate, attached to half the circumference of stem by a broad base, 4 – 8 x 2 – 3 cm,
densely villous outside. Male inflorescences lax panicles of racemes or spikes, 20 - 30 cm long,
densely puberulous; branches 6 - 8 cm long; bracts of branches ovate, 3 – 5 mm long, persistent;
floral bracts numerous, lax, sessile, suborbicular, ca 2.5 mm across, pubescent, lepidote-glandular;
flowers many, sessile, fasciculate in each bract-axil; calyx campanulate, 3-lobed, ca 0.8 mm high;
stamens 2 or 3, ca 0.7 mm long; filaments connate at base; anthers 3 - 4-loculed, oblong. Female
inflorescences densely racemose paniculate, 10 - 15 cm long; branches 5 - 8 cm long; racemes
strobiliform; bracts of branches sessile; floral bracts foliaceous, ovate, denticulate or pectinate;
flowers solitary in each bract-axil, subsessile, ca 3 mm long; calyx highly reduced, cup-shaped,
subtruncate, adherent to base of ovary, ca 0.8 mm long, densely pubescent; ovary 2-loculed,
oblong-ovoid, dorso-ventrally compressed, tuberculate and densely yellow lepidote; stigma
bilobed, sessile, densely papillose. Fruits transversely oblong or subreniform, 2-loculed, ca 1
cm across, ca 0.6 cm high, densely rufous lepidote.
Fl. & Fr. July - Oct.
Distrib. India: Lowland inland forests as lower storey in shade, or in mixed forests, on sandy or clayey loam, up to 100 m altitude. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Nicobar Islands only).
Endemic.
Notes. This species probably has the largest leaves in the genus.
Fl. & Fr. July - Oct.
Distrib. India: Lowland inland forests as lower storey in shade, or in mixed forests, on sandy or clayey loam, up to 100 m altitude. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Nicobar Islands only).
Endemic.
Notes. This species probably has the largest leaves in the genus.
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