Mucuna schlechteri Harms

Wiriadinata, H., Ohashi, H. & Adema, F., 2016, Notes on Malesian Fabaceae (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) 16. The genus Mucuna, Blumea 61 (2), pp. 90-124 : 117

39. Mucuna schlechteri Harms

Mucuna schlechteri Harms (1920) 373; Verdc.(1979) 453,f. 105, 107B, B.1; (1980) 521. — Type: Schlechter 17449 (B†?), Udu, Waria River.

Mucuna lane-poolei Summerh. (1926) 240; Verdc. (1979) 446; (1980) 525. — Type: Lane-Poole 372 (E. Stanley) (BRI?), Papua New Guinea, Owen Stanley Range .

Distribution — Malesia: New Guinea: Irian Jaya; Papua New Guinea: Morobe, W Sepik, Central, Northern, Milne Bay Prov.

Habitat & Ecology — Primary and secondary forest, riverside. Altitude up to 1760 m. Soil: ultrabasic (once recorded). Flowering: January, June to September, November; fruiting: July to September.

Note — Flowering parts of inflorescences often quite long, densely set with short, thick brachyblasts, giving the top part a knobby outlook or less dense and brachyblasts more slen- der. Brachyblasts usually 1.5– 2 mm thick, more slender ones 0.5–1.1 mm thick. Apex of wing petals ± hardened like that of keel petals. Pods show no visible ornamentation on the valves. Seeds look ± mature, however, in drying they seem to have shrunk and become irregular (‘misshapen’, see also M. longipedunculata ). Seed coat ± shiny black, pitted. Verdcourt (1980) discusses the differences between M. lane-poolei and M. schlechteri citing the close similarity of these species. He decided to keep the species separate. Comparing the available material of M. lane-poolei (Darbyshire 346, Eyma 4681) with the description of M. schlechteri gives only individual differences, except for the length of the pedicels (7 mm in both specimens) and the indumentum of the disc-lobes (glabrous or with a few hairs in the two specimens). We think that these differences are too small to keep the species separate and have united the two, making M. lane-poolei a synonym of M. schlechteri .