42. Didymocheton sessilis (Miq.) Kosterm. in Reinwardtia 7: 437. 1969

≡ Dysoxylum sessile Miq. in Ann. Mus. Bot.

Lugduno-Batavi 4: 15. 1868 – Lectotype (designated by Kostermans in Reinwardtia 7: 437. 1969): Indonesia, Moluccas, Ceram, Saparua, Teijsmann HB1915 (U barcode U 0004337!).

Distribution. – N & C Moluccas, Indonesia.

Notes. – See also Mabberley (1995b: 66). This is a remarkable pachycaul treelet (Mabberley, 1995b: fig. 10) with flagelliform inflorescences and fruits with irritant hairs, all like those of Chisocheton sect. Clemensia . In Meliaceae, the locellate anthers present in this species, Didymocheton gaudichaudianus, D. nutans and D. phaeotrichus, are otherwise known only in Chisocheton, but D. sessilis has anatropous, rather than the orthotropous ovules found in Chisocheton, and is marked by the seven orbicular bracteoles passing imperceptibly into the five sepals, a feature found only in some other species of Didymocheton . The narrow distribution of this pachycaul species by comparison with the wide ones of its leptocaul allies is mirrored in Chisocheton (Mabberley, 1979b: 270, figs. 5 & 6), as predicted by Corner’ s Durian Theory (Corner, 1949, 1967).