Boehmeria heterophylla var. blumei, (Wedd.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear

Wilmot-Dear, C. M. & Friis, I., 2013, The Old World species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae). A taxonomic revision, Blumea 58 (2), pp. 85-216 : 110-112

b. var. blumei (Wedd.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear , comb. & stat. nov. — Fig. 4k, l ; Map 6

Basionym: Boehmeria blumei Wedd. in A. de Candolle (ed), Prodromus sys- tematis naturalis regni vegetabilis,vol. 16, 1 (1869) 204. ― Margarocarpus heterophyllus Wedd.(1854) 204. ― Boehmeria heterophylla (Wedd.) Blume (1857) 204, nom. illeg., non Wedd. (1856). ― Type: Cuming 731 (holo L; iso BM, G, K), Philippines .

Ultimate stems 1.5–2 mm diam, with mixed indumentum, some hairs sparse or abundant, short (<0.1 mm long) spreading or half-adpressed, others distinctly longer (c. 0.5 mm long), spreading, usually sparser. Leaves alternate or subopposite, ‘larger’ leaves 5–9 × length of ‘smaller’ but on some lateral shoots of similar size; ‘larger’ leaves asymmetrical, narrowly ovate, 8–13 by 2.5–5 cm, length 2.5–4(–4.5) × width; margin with up to 40 teeth either side, these rounded or acute, slightly broader than long (1–)2–3(–4) by 2–5(–7) mm, with their upper margin convex; base ± cuneate; texture fairly thin-chartaceous but leaves often somewhat bullate, with abundant spreading hairs like the stem or longer both sides or hairs half-adpressed adaxially; petiole very short c. 0.1 × lamina length. Female flower­clusters sometimes (especially on main stem) very large, up to 8 mm diam, with more than 100 flowers; bracteoles up to 2 mm long, usually acute. Male flowers often clearly pedicellate. Stigma 1–3 mm long. Fruiting perianth 1–1.8 by 0.5–1 mm. Achene 0.8–1 by 0.4–1 mm, often with tuberculate surface.

Distribution ― Indonesia (Sulawesi), Philippines (Luzon, Mindanao).

Habitat & Ecology ― Secondary forest; 250–1100 m altitude.

Notes ― 1. Weddell (1856: 352) refers to the type collection of this entity in a footnote under his new species B. heterophylla , regarding it as “a variety of B. heterophylla ” but not formally transferring it from Margarocarpus to Boehmeria . Therefore his new name B. heterophylla (1856) (for a different entity with a different type collection), is valid, even though his Margarocarpus heterophyllus , also validly published, antedates it. Blume (1857) formally transfered the epithet of Margarocarpus heterophyllus to Boehmeria , creating an illegitimate later homonym which is corrected by Weddell (1869) with a new epithet. The facts that both type specimens of these closely-related entities have the same collector and that at some point they have each been given the same species epithet, create many possibilities for confusion.

2. For differences from var. heterophylla and discussion of its distribution see under the species.

3. This variety is more similar than var. heterophylla to B. beyeri in leaf texture and indumentum.

Figures

Map 6 Distribution of Boehmeria heterophylla Wedd. var. blumei (Wedd.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear (●) and B. beyeri C.B.Rob. (ä).

Fig. 4 a–d: Boehmeria beyeri C.B.Rob. a. Part of stem showing leaves dimorphic in petiole length; b male flower; c. axillary female flower-cluster (inflo- rescence); d. female perianth. — e–j: Boehmeria heterophylla Wedd. var. heterophylla. e. Stem with alternate dimorphic leaves and axillary flower-clusters (inflorescences); f. detail of stem with fine adpressed indumentum; g. leaf with adpressed indumentum on adaxial surface; h. axillary female flower-cluster (inflorescence); i, j. fruiting perianths of different form (from same plant).— k–m: Boehmeria heterophylla var.blumei (Wedd.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear.k. Stem with subopposite dimorphic leaves; l. detail of stem with coarse and fine spreading indumentum; m. male flower in bud (a–d: Beyer 13540; e: Cuming 1561; f, h: Borbon 8866; g: Elmer 15627; i, j: Edano 19876; k, l: Cuming 731; m: PPI 11815; all K). — Scale bars: a, e, g, k = 2 cm; c, h = 2 mm; b, d, f, i, j, l, m = 1 mm.