Alangium minahassicum (Bloemb.) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, 2017

Dewilde, W. J. J. O. & Duyfjes, B. E. E., 2017, Taxonomy of Alangium section Conostigma (Alangiaceae), Blumea 62 (1), pp. 29-46 : 38-40

13. Alangium minahassicum (Bloemb.) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes , stat. nov.

Alangium javanicum ( Blume) Wangerin var. minahassicum Bloemb. (1935) 284, f. 5w, x; (1939) 220. — Lectotype, here designated: Beguin 2262 (L L.2497856; iso BO), Moluccas, Halmahera, W Pitoe, 80 m alt., 23 Nov. 1922., fr.

Tree 10–30(–40) m tall; twigs grey or (dark) brown, 2–4 mm diam, early glabrescent from minute hairs less than 0.1 mm long; leaf bud minutely hairy. Leaves: petiole 0.5–1.2 cm long; lamina drying greenish or blackish brown, glabrous, (ovate-) elliptic, 8–18 by 3–8.5 cm, base not or hardly asymmetric, rounded or cuneate, apex acute-acuminate; veins all pinnate, 5–8 on each side; tertiary venation thinly (inconspicuously) scalariform. Inflorescences subglabrous (hairs less than 0.1 mm long), of 1 or 2 main branches (peduncles) in the leaf axil, each shortly branched, 2– 6-flowered; peduncle (s) 3–12 mm long. Flowers minutely hairy; pedicel 2–3 mm long; corolla in bud 12–20 mm long, apex (sub)acute; ovary and calyx 4–5 mm long, (faintly) ridged, limb saucer-shaped, c. 1.5 mm long, at margin 4 –6 mm wide, straight, unlobed or faintly lobed, or irregularly torn; petals 6, inside subglabrous, 12–18 mm long; stamens 6, filament 2–5 mm long, somewhat broadened at base, at apex densely hairy, anther c. 10 mm long, connective glabrous; style hairy, 10–15 mm long, stigma conical. Fruit 1 (or 2) per infructescence, drying black, minutely hairy, glabrescent, ovoid-ellipsoid, 25–35 by 15–18 mm, smooth; calyx remnant small.

Distribution — Sulawesi (Manado), N Moluccas (Halmahera, Ternate, Bacan, Obi Isl., Buru, Seram).

Habitat & Ecology — Primary forest, on hillside, steep terrain, near river bank; loamy soil with little humus, sandy soil, clayey soil with stones, black volcanic soil, on shale quartzite bedrock, also on limestone; from sea level to 700 m altitude; flowering and fruiting predominantly from October to December and March.

Field-notes — Often recorded as a solitary tall tree with a straight bole; bark smooth; prop roots, buttresses, and small stilt roots exist; flowers very fragrant. The ripening colour of the fruit is not recorded.

Vernacular names — Lansabonti poete, Wai Wai Bebudo ( Ternate).

Note — In the Leiden Herbarium there is a number of mainly sterile specimens from New Guinea, most of these collected by Boswezen (BW), which obviously belong, or are closely re- lated to A. minahassicum . These collections can be somewhat arbitrarily divided into the following two groups: 1. A group of 9 collections from north-western Papua, notably

Warsamson valley, E of Sorong, which may represent a separate taxon, because of their relatively long petioles

(1.5–) 2.3 cm long. Among these, two collections are in fruit (fruit c. 25 mm long) and they could be linked up with

A. hollrungii . The collections are: BW 2922 (fruit), Vink

17571 (fruit), BW 2958, BW 8496 (200 km W of Hollandia),

BW 11175 (Japen Isl.), BW 12398, BW 12455, BW 12768,

BW 13291. More fertile material is needed for a decision on their status. 2. A group of 4 collections, all sterile, from Adi Isl. (limestone),

which may belong to A. minahassicum , but fertile material is needed to be certain. The collections are: BW 9959, BW

10152, BW 10154, BW 10155.