JSP Page
Actephila excelsa
(Dalzell) Müll.Arg. in Linnaea 32: 78. 1863 & in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 222.
1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 283. 1887; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7): 1283. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 898.
1957).
Anomospermum excelsum Dalzell in Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 3: 228. 1851.
Actephila neilgherrensis Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. t. 1910. 1852.
Shrubs or trees, 1 - 5 m high, almost entirely glabrous. Leaves elliptic to cuneate-obovate
or obovate-elliptic, cuneate, acute, obtuse or rounded to subcordate at base, entire along
margins, obtuse, apiculate or acuminate at apex, 4 - 45 x 2 - 20 cm, membranous or coriaceous to
chartaceous, mostly glossy; lateral nerves 5 - 12 pairs; petioles 0.2 - 8.5 cm long; stipules
minute, triangular or ovate. Inflorescences axillary. Male flowers: in fascicles; pedicels 2 - 5 mm
long, slender; sepals 5, ovate or oblong, 1.5 - 3 x 0.8 - 2 mm; petals 5, spathulate, 1 - 2 x 0.3 - 1 mm;
disc 5-lobed; stamens 2.5 - 3 mm long; filaments connate below into a column; anthers ca 0.7 mm
long; pistillode ovoid. Female flowers: solitary; pedicels 1 - 5 cm long; sepals 5, ovate, elliptic
or oblong, 2 - 3.5 x 1 - 2 mm; petals 5, spathulate-unguiculate, 1.5 - 2 x 0.5 - 1 mm; disc flat; ovary
subglobose, 1.5 - 2 mm in diam.; styles 1.5 - 2 mm long, bifid above. Fruits subglobose, depressed,
1.5 - 3 cm in diam., 3 (or 4)-lobed, usually verrucose; pedicels 1 - 5 cm long.
KEY TO THE VARIETIES
| 1 a. Leaves large, up to 45 cm long; petioles 2 – 8 cm long
|
3.
javanica
|
| b. Leaves smaller; petioles 0.2 – 3.5 cm long
|
2
|
| 2 a. Branchlets, petioles and female pedicels brownish puberulous; leaves mostly rounded to
subcordate at base, mostly membranous
|
4.
puberula
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| b. Branchlets, petioles and female pedicels glabrous; leaves cuneate, acute or obtuse at base,
stiffer in texture
|
3
|
| 3 a. Leaves 4 – 9 x 1.5 – 3.5 cm; lateral nerves 5 – 7 per side
|
1.
brevifolia
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| b. Leaves 8 – 30 x 4 - 15 cm; lateral nerves 8 – 12 per side
|
2.
excelsa
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