Aporosa indo-acuminata
Chakrab. & N.P.Balakr., sp. nov. A. acuminatae Thwaites
affinis, a qua tamen differt floribus femineis 2 - 5 ad axillam folium, fructibus parvioribus,
bilocularibus, tenuiparietibus et regulatim dehiscentibus
Type: India, Kerala, Idukki dist., Poongavanam – Sabarimala, 15 Feb. 1981, N.C. Nair
70204 (CAL – Holotype); Isotype in MH.
Allied to A. acuminata Thwaites, differing mainly in the female flowers 2 – 5 per leaf-axil, and smaller, bilocular, thin-walled, regularly dehiscent fruits.
A. acuminata sensu auct. plur., non Thwaites, 1861: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 348. 1887, p. p., tantum quoad spec. cit. ‘Tinnevelly, Beddome’; Bourd., For. Trees Travancore 473. 1908; Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV.147.xv (heft 81): 102. 1922, p. p., quoad spec. cit. ‘Travancore, Kulkuntal, Meebold 13241’; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7): 1309. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 916. 1957); N.R.Mandal & Panigrahi in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 26: 42. 1984 (publ. 1985), p. p., excl. quoad distrib. ‘Sri Lanka’; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 421. 1990; Chakrab. & M.Gangop. in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 17: 158, f. 1A. 1993, p. maj. p., excl. typo et quoad spec. cit. ‘Sri Lanka, Cramer 4399’; M.Mohanan & A.N.Henry, Fl. Thiruvananthapuram 407. 1994; Philcox in Dassan. & Clayton, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 11: 269. 1997, p. p., tantum quoad distrib. ‘Southern India’; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Fam. Euphorb. India 310. 1970, p. p., excl. quoad distrib. ‘Sri Lanka’.
Mal.: Nirvetti, Swarnavetti; Tam.: Cheruseru, Vettilmarom.
Shrubs or trees, 2 – 10 m high; branchlets greenish, brown or greyish, terete, 1 – 3 mm thick, glabrous. Leaves elliptic, narrowly oblong, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate or sometimes oblanceolate, cuneate or acute at base, entire or occasionally slightly undulate and sometimes minutely glandular-notched along margins, caudate-acuminate (acumen 5 – 20 mm long) at apex, 6 – 14 x 2 – 5 cm, chartaceous, glabrous, pale green to pale brown when dry; lateral nerves 6 – 10 per side, faint above, prominent beneath; tertiary nerves conspicuous beneath, reticulate; nervules prominent beneath; petioles 5 – 15 x 0.5 – 2 mm, glabrous. Male inflorescences axillary, spicate, up to 1 cm long, dense-flowered; bracts broadly ovate, ca 0.8 mm long, pubescent, ciliate along margins; flowers sessile; sepals 3, oblong, subacute, 1 – 1.3 x 0.4 – 0.6 mm, glabrous; stamens 2, 1 - 1.2 mm long; filaments slender; anthers suborbicular, ca 0.5 mm across. Female inflorescences axillary, 2 – 5-flowered; rachis 2 – 3 mm long, puberulous; bracts deltoid, ca 0.5 mm long, puberulous outside; flowers sessile; sepals 3, triangular, 1 – 1.3 x 0.8 – 1.2 mm; ovary ovoid-oblong, 1.5 - 2.5 x 1 - 1.5 mm, densely tawny-pilose or hirtellous, 2-locular; stigmas 2 – 3, ca 1 mm long, bifid. Fruits ovoid to globose, 7 – 10 x 7 – 10 mm, 2-locular, puberulous to glabrous, thin-walled, green, brown or blackish when dry, regularly dehiscent; seeds pyriform, 7 – 8 mm long, 2-lobed, dark red.
Fl. & Fr. Sept. - June.
Distrib. India: Common in evergreen forests, frequently along streams, between 200 and 1800 m altitudes. Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Endemic.
Allied to A. acuminata Thwaites, differing mainly in the female flowers 2 – 5 per leaf-axil, and smaller, bilocular, thin-walled, regularly dehiscent fruits.
A. acuminata sensu auct. plur., non Thwaites, 1861: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 348. 1887, p. p., tantum quoad spec. cit. ‘Tinnevelly, Beddome’; Bourd., For. Trees Travancore 473. 1908; Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV.147.xv (heft 81): 102. 1922, p. p., quoad spec. cit. ‘Travancore, Kulkuntal, Meebold 13241’; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7): 1309. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 916. 1957); N.R.Mandal & Panigrahi in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 26: 42. 1984 (publ. 1985), p. p., excl. quoad distrib. ‘Sri Lanka’; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 421. 1990; Chakrab. & M.Gangop. in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 17: 158, f. 1A. 1993, p. maj. p., excl. typo et quoad spec. cit. ‘Sri Lanka, Cramer 4399’; M.Mohanan & A.N.Henry, Fl. Thiruvananthapuram 407. 1994; Philcox in Dassan. & Clayton, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 11: 269. 1997, p. p., tantum quoad distrib. ‘Southern India’; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Fam. Euphorb. India 310. 1970, p. p., excl. quoad distrib. ‘Sri Lanka’.
Mal.: Nirvetti, Swarnavetti; Tam.: Cheruseru, Vettilmarom.
Shrubs or trees, 2 – 10 m high; branchlets greenish, brown or greyish, terete, 1 – 3 mm thick, glabrous. Leaves elliptic, narrowly oblong, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate or sometimes oblanceolate, cuneate or acute at base, entire or occasionally slightly undulate and sometimes minutely glandular-notched along margins, caudate-acuminate (acumen 5 – 20 mm long) at apex, 6 – 14 x 2 – 5 cm, chartaceous, glabrous, pale green to pale brown when dry; lateral nerves 6 – 10 per side, faint above, prominent beneath; tertiary nerves conspicuous beneath, reticulate; nervules prominent beneath; petioles 5 – 15 x 0.5 – 2 mm, glabrous. Male inflorescences axillary, spicate, up to 1 cm long, dense-flowered; bracts broadly ovate, ca 0.8 mm long, pubescent, ciliate along margins; flowers sessile; sepals 3, oblong, subacute, 1 – 1.3 x 0.4 – 0.6 mm, glabrous; stamens 2, 1 - 1.2 mm long; filaments slender; anthers suborbicular, ca 0.5 mm across. Female inflorescences axillary, 2 – 5-flowered; rachis 2 – 3 mm long, puberulous; bracts deltoid, ca 0.5 mm long, puberulous outside; flowers sessile; sepals 3, triangular, 1 – 1.3 x 0.8 – 1.2 mm; ovary ovoid-oblong, 1.5 - 2.5 x 1 - 1.5 mm, densely tawny-pilose or hirtellous, 2-locular; stigmas 2 – 3, ca 1 mm long, bifid. Fruits ovoid to globose, 7 – 10 x 7 – 10 mm, 2-locular, puberulous to glabrous, thin-walled, green, brown or blackish when dry, regularly dehiscent; seeds pyriform, 7 – 8 mm long, 2-lobed, dark red.
Fl. & Fr. Sept. - June.
Distrib. India: Common in evergreen forests, frequently along streams, between 200 and 1800 m altitudes. Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Endemic.
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