Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq.

Joyce, E. M., Crayn, D. M., Rossetto, M., Yap, J. Y. S., Thiele, K. R. & Pannell, C. M., 2023, Taxonomic recircumscriptions in the Aglaia elaeagnoidea complex (Meliaceae), Blumea 68 (1), pp. 26-38 : 34-36

2. Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq. — Fig. 6

Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq.(1868) 41, p.p. pro type;non Koorders (1912) 444 (= A. wallichii ); non Koorders & Valeton (1913) t. 161 (= A. wallichii ); Hiern (1875) 555,p.p.; C.DC (1878) 604,p.p. — Milnea roxburghiana Wight & Arn. (1834) 119. — Lectotype (designated by Pannell 1992): Herb. Wight 311 (lecto K; isolecto BM, CGE, G, K-W, MO), India.

[ Walsura lanceolata Wall. (1831–1832) n. 4886, nom. nud.]

[ Aglaia grata Wall. ex Voigt (1845) 136, nom. nud.]

[ Aglaia midnaporensis Carey ex Voigt (1845) 136, nom. nud.]

[ Sapindus lepidotus Wall. (1847) n. 8036, nom. nud.]

Aglaia roxburghiana ( Wight & Arn.) Miq. var. obtusa C.DC (1878) 605. — Lectotype (designated by Pannell 1992): Anon. in Thwaites C.P. 1148 (lecto G-DC), Ceylon [ Sri Lanka].

? Aglaia littoralis Talbot (1902) 76,non Miq. (1868) 45 (= Aglaia lawii ). – Syn- types: Talbot 2955 (syn BSI), Mysore State (N. Kanara District ), Kumpta ; Talbot s.n. (syn BSI), Mysore State.

Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq. var. beddomei Gamble (1915) 180; Beddome (1871) 130A. — Aglaia elaeagnoidea (A.Juss.) Benth. var. beddomei (Gamble) K.K.N. Nair (1981) 426. — Lectotype (designated by Pannell 1992): Beddome s.n. (lecto BM),S. India, Tamil Nadu,Annamallays.

Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq. var. courtallensis Gamble (1915) 180. — Aglaia elaeagnoidea (A.Juss.) Benth. var. courtallensis (Gamble) K.K.N. Nair (1981) 426. — Type: Barber 8388 (holo K), S. India, Tamil Nadu, Courtallum, Hills of Tinnevelly.

? Aglaia talbotii Sundararagh.(1969) 184,nom.nov.pro Aglaia littoralis Talbot , non Miq. (1868) 45 (= Aglaia lawii ).

Aglaia elaeagnoidea auct. non (A.Juss.) Benth.: Pannell (1992) 148, t. 34 & t. 35, p.p.; Pannell (1995b) 256.

Trees, to 15(–30) m high, with buttresses outwards from the base to 1.5 m and up the bole to 75 cm, tapering into a fluted bole with occasional bosses. Bark pale orange-brown or reddish brown, smooth or flaking in scales, exposing the orange-brown bark underneath; inner bark reddish brown or pink. Twigs densely covered with orange-brown peltate scales withfimbriate margins. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, 11–23 cm long, 10– 23 cm wide; petiole 2.5–5 cm long. Leaflets 3–7; lamina ellipti- cal, lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2.5–10(–12.5) by 1–3(–5) cm, usually at least twice as long as wide, base cuneate, apex usu- ally rounded, sometimes acuminate, with an obtuse acumen to 10 mm long, with scales (like those on the twigs) present on the midrib below and scattered on the rest of the lower leaflet surface, with numerous faint or conspicuous pits on both surfaces; lateral veins (5–)6–12 on each side of the midrib (sometimes with shorter laterals in between), subprominent, ascending and curved upwards near the margin, anastomosing, visible and slightly raised; midrib prominent below, subprominent above; reticulation conspicuously visible as darker green than rest of leaflet surface when fresh, slightly raised when dried; petiolules 2–10 mm long. Flowers c. 1 mm long, c. 1.5 mm wide, depressed-globose, yellow. Calyx cup-shaped, divided into 5 rounded lobes, densely covered on the outside with scales (like those on the twigs), but with longer-fimbriate margins. Petals 5, free, quincuncial, without peltate scales on the outer surface. Staminal tube obovoid, c. 1 by 1 mm; aperture 0.2–0.5 mm diam; anthers 5, ovoid, 0.3–0.5 by 0.25–0.4 mm, inserted either near the base or about half way up the staminal tube, included within or just protruding through the aperture. Fruit obovoid when immature, ellipsoid or subglobose when ripe, 1–2.2 by 1–2.2 cm diam indehiscent; pericarp pale brown, orange or yellow, thin and brittle when dry, densely covered on the outside with scales (like those on the twigs); locules 2, each with 0 or 1 seed. Seeds surrounded by a translucent gelatinous aril which is edible and tasty.

Distribution — Sri Lanka, India (Western Ghats, West Bengal and Odisha).

Habitat & Ecology — Occurs in evergreen forest including coastal dry-zone forests and riverine forests (on beaches and sand-dunes in Sri Lanka), up to 1500 m in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of India and 600 m in West Bengal .

Notes — 1. Aglaia roxburghiana is sometimes a larger tree than either A. wallichii or A. elaeagnoidea . The occasional larger-leaved specimens can be almost indistinguishable morphologically from A. edulis unless fruits are present. The fruits of A. edulis are larger than those of A. roxburghiana and are usually 3-locular; the upper surface of the leaflets of A. roxburghiana is slightly shiny when dry and is dull in A. edulis .

2. The leaflets of A. roxburghiana usually have a rounded (rarely acuminate) apex, while the leaflets of A. wallichii are usually acuminate, except for some coastal specimens from West Malesia. The flowers of A. roxburghiana usually resemble those of A. elaeagnoidea and A. wallichii , but sometimes differ in that they have an obovoid rather than subglobose staminal tube with a narrower aperture. Both A. roxburghiana and A. wallichii differ from A. elaeagnoidea in the absence of scales on the outer surface of the petals (on nearly all specimens). The scales on the inflorescence and fruits of A. roxburghiana have longer fimbriate margins than in either A. elaeagnoidea or A. wallichii .

3. The fruits of A. roxburghiana and A. wallichii have an inedible pericarp, densely covered with orange-brown scales. Seed dispersal differs from that of A. elaeagnoidea ; primates remove the pericarp and consume the seeds, digesting the gelatinous aril and either spitting out or voiding the cleaned seeds in their faeces.

Figures

Fig. 6 Aglaia roxburghiana (Wight & Arn.) Miq. a. Branch with inflorescence, arrow indicating leaf lower surface; b. immature fruit; c. peltate scale; d. peltate scale with fimbriate margin; e. stellate scale (a, c–e: Barber 2551, K; b: Wight 140, NY). — Illustration by E.M. Joyce.