Atalantia simplicifolia
(Roxb.) Engl. in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(4): 192. 1896; ed. 2, 19a: 328. 1931 excl. descr. A. simplicifolia (Roxb.) Tanaka in J. Bot. 68: 232. 1930, comb. superfl. Amyris simplicifolia Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 244. 1832. Sclerostylis roxburghii Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 1: 72. 1840. Atalantia roxburghii (Wight) Oliver in J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 5. Suppl. 2: 25.1861. A. caudata Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 513. 1875. A. roxburghiana Hook. f., l.c., p.p., excl. specim. Griffith.
Shrubs or small trees, up to 5 m high; branchlets slender, cylindric, glabrous. Leaves unifoliolate; petioles 5 - 10 mm long, horizontally grooved above, articulate with base of blade, glabrous; leaflet blades elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, shallowly narrowed at base, caudate-acuminate at apex with 10 - 15 mm long acumen, entire along margins, 7.5 -13.5 x 2.5 - 5.2 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, notched at tip; secondary nerves ca 10 pairs with as many fainter ones in between arising at angles 50 - 60° with the midnerve, finely reticulate. Inflorescences axillary racemes, up to 2.5 cm long, few-flowered, glabrous; pedicels slender, ca 7 mm long, glabrous. Flowers small. Calyx small with 4 minute, acute sepals. Petals 4, obovate-oblong. Stamens 8, free; anthers ovoid. Ovary seated on an annular disk, 2-locular; each locule with 2 collateral ovules; stigma subcapitate. Berry globose, glandular, 2-locular, young (unripe) fruits ca 10 x 8 mm.
Distrib. India: So far known only from a few sporadic collections made in N.E. India : Assam (Cachar hills), Meghalaya (Khasi hills), Mizoram (Lushai hills) and Nagaland (Naga hills).
Notes. The name Atalantia simplicifolia (Roxb.) Engl. is retained here for this species, although Engler had erroneously applied it to a different taxon, Atalantia roxburghiana Hook. f. The latter is reported to occur in S.E. China, Thailand, Indo-China, Malay peninsula and Sumatra, and is distinct from Atalantia simplicifolia in having unusually larger leaves (9 - 21 x 2 - 4 cm) with acute or abruptly acuminate leaflets.
It is interesting to note that although the type of Amyris simplicifolia Roxb. (BM) is reported to have been taken from a plant brought from Pulo-Penang (Malaya), it has not been found again or reported anywhere near Penang (Swingle 1967: 322).
Distrib. India: So far known only from a few sporadic collections made in N.E. India : Assam (Cachar hills), Meghalaya (Khasi hills), Mizoram (Lushai hills) and Nagaland (Naga hills).
Notes. The name Atalantia simplicifolia (Roxb.) Engl. is retained here for this species, although Engler had erroneously applied it to a different taxon, Atalantia roxburghiana Hook. f. The latter is reported to occur in S.E. China, Thailand, Indo-China, Malay peninsula and Sumatra, and is distinct from Atalantia simplicifolia in having unusually larger leaves (9 - 21 x 2 - 4 cm) with acute or abruptly acuminate leaflets.
It is interesting to note that although the type of Amyris simplicifolia Roxb. (BM) is reported to have been taken from a plant brought from Pulo-Penang (Malaya), it has not been found again or reported anywhere near Penang (Swingle 1967: 322).
RELATED IMAGES
