Hydnocarpus sharmae
P. S. N. Rao & Sreek. in Nord. J. Bot. 12: 225. 1992.
It represents Siphonodon celastrineus Griffith (Celastraceae) found in India (West
Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Andamans), Myanmar (including Great
Cocos islands) and Malesia.
An open flower kept in a packet attached to the holotype (Rao 20661, CAL !) clearly showed two most distinctive characters of the genus Siphonodon. Ovary half immersed in and adnate to a hemispherical disc and hollowed at apex with the central reccpticular column resembling a style protruding through it. The protruded tip of the recepticular column has been mistaken for stigma and filaments or staminodes for epipetalous scales. Many other details of the flower provided in the protologue arc grossly erroneous. J. D. Hooker's (Trans. Linn. Soc. London 22: t. 26. 1857) plate and the accompanying discussion gives a clear insight into its floral structure.
An open flower kept in a packet attached to the holotype (Rao 20661, CAL !) clearly showed two most distinctive characters of the genus Siphonodon. Ovary half immersed in and adnate to a hemispherical disc and hollowed at apex with the central reccpticular column resembling a style protruding through it. The protruded tip of the recepticular column has been mistaken for stigma and filaments or staminodes for epipetalous scales. Many other details of the flower provided in the protologue arc grossly erroneous. J. D. Hooker's (Trans. Linn. Soc. London 22: t. 26. 1857) plate and the accompanying discussion gives a clear insight into its floral structure.
