Ficus sulawesiana C.C.Berg & Culmsee, 2011

Berg, C. C. & Culmsee, H., 2011, Ficus schwarzii redefined and two new species of Ficus (Moraceae) from Sulawesi (Indonesia) described, Blumea 56 (3), pp. 265-269 : 267-268

Ficus sulawesiana C.C.Berg & Culmsee , sp. nov. — Fig. 2

Ficu schwarzii similis,laminae margine dentato,supra toto indumento partim (sub)patenti distincta. — Typus: Bünnemeyer 12059 (holo L; iso BO n.v.), Indonesia, Sulawesi, G. Bonthain, 2000 m, 11 June 1921 .

Tree with height unknown. Leafy twigs 1.5– 3 mm thick, brown to whitish strigillose to partly subhirtellous or also sparsely to rather densely (minutely white puberulous, with or without nodal glands and mostly with conspicuous (warty) lenticels below the (scars of the) stipules, with few abortive axillary buds, the scars of the leaves prominent; internodes hollow or solid; periderm persistent. Leaves laxly spirally arranged to subdistichous to partly subopposite; lamina oblong to (sub)obovate, 5 –17 by 1.5 – 5 cm, (almost) symmetric, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, apex acuminate to subcaudate, base equilateral to slightly inequilateral, cuneate to obtuse, margin crenate-dentate (and with brown hairs), upper surface sparsely brown to whitish (sub)strigillose, the hairs scattered on the whole surface, smooth, lower surface sparsely brown to whitish strigillose to subhirtellous on most veins, smooth, cystoliths only beneath; lateral veins 6 –10 pairs, none of them furcate away from the margin, tertiary venation reticulate or towards the margin (sub)scalariform; waxy glands in the axils of some of the lateral veins in the middle part of the lamina; petiole 0.5–1.5 cm long, sparsely brown to whitish strigillose, partly subhirtellous, the epidermis persistent; stipules 0.5–1.5 cm long, (sub)glabrous, caducous or (sub)persistent. Figs on the trunk, in (clusters? of) up to 4 cm long, branched leafless branchlets with terminally c. 3 mm long scale-like persistent stipules; peduncle 0.5 –3.5 cm long, glabrous; basal bracts 3, verticillate, 2 – 3 mm long; receptacle subglobose, 1–1.5 cm diam when dry, glabrous, 0.2– 0.3 cm long stipitate or non-stipitate, faintly ribbed, without lateral bracts, with (warty) lenticels and the epidermis flaking off, colour at maturity unknown, apex flat to concave, ostiole 2– 3 mm diam, with the upper ostiolar bracts horizontal, surrounded by 4 – 5 short erect to inflexed apical bracts; internal hairs sparse and brown. Staminate flower not seen. Style of the long-styled flower with relatively long patent hairs.

Distribution — Central and South-western Sulawesi.

Habitat — Humid (sub)montane forest, at altitudes between 1800 and 2000 m (cf. Culmsee et al. 2011).

Additional collections. Bünnemeyer 12056 (L), G. Bonthain, 2000 m; Culmsee 2344 ( GOET, L), 2635 ( L), 2665 ( L), 3037 ( L) and 3038 ( L), Lore-Lindu National Park , Mt Nokilalaki, 1800 m, Aug. 2007 .

Notes — This species differs from F. schwarzii in the crenate-dentate (and hairy) margin of the lamina, the partly ± patent indumentum on leafy twigs, petiole and surfaces of the lamina, the scattered hairs on the lamina above, the absence of subpersistent stipules, in the (sub)juvenile state, and the relatively long patent hairs of the style of the long-styled flower.

This species strongly resembles F. ternatana Miq. , an endemic of the island of Ternate ( Moluccas), which mainly differs in features of the fig receptacle: ribbed, brown strigillose to puberulous and with persistent epidermis.

In the crenate-dentate margin of the lamina, this species also resembles part of the material of F. benguetensis , namely the cauliflorous form (see Berg 2011).

Figures

Fig. 2 Ficus sulawesiana C.C.Berg & Culmsee. a. Leafy twig; b. upper surface of lamina; c. figs, closed and in longitudinal section; d. long-styled pistillate flowers (a, b: Culmsee 3037; c, d: Bünnemeyer 12056).