Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb.

Craven, L. A., Damas, K. Q. & Cowley, K. J., 2021, Studies in Papuasian Syzygium (Myrtaceae): 2. The furfuraceous species of subg. Syzygium, Blumea 66 (1), pp. 57-81 : 63-64

4. Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb. — Fig 1d, e , 2 : 2.6; Map 2

Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb. (1910) 322. — Lectotype (designated here): Branderhorst 129 (lecto L!), Indonesia, Papua Province, Okaba , 5 Oct. 1907.

Syzygium acetosum Merr.& L.M.Perry (1942) 280. — Type: Brass 6267 (holo A n.v.; iso BRI!, LAE !), Papua New Guinea, Western (Fly River) Province, Daru Island, light rainforests, 3 Mar. 1936.

Syzygium kietanum Rech. (1912) 183. — Type: Rechinger 4704 (holo W n.v., photo!), Papua New Guinea, Bougainville (North Solomons) Province, Kieta .

Syzygium peekelii Diels (1922) 414. — Type: Peekel 671 (holo B†), Papua New Guinea, New Ireland Province, Namatanai, Liankankado , on the shore, Oct. 1910.

Tree to 25 m tall, to 50 cm dbh; bark brown, grey, grey-brown or light-brown, flaky, papery or fissured. Vegetative branchlet compressed or terete, rounded, 1.3‒2.5 mm diam; bark dull, smooth, not or only slightly glandular-verrucose, persistent. Leaf lamina elliptic, broadly elliptic, narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate (rarely ovate, occasionally approaching narrowly oblong, occasionally broadly obovate),7‒27.3 by 3‒14.2 cm, 1.3‒3.1 times as long as wide; base attenuate, cuneate or rounded (occasionally truncate); apex short acuminate, acuminate, obtuse or rounded; acumen flat; margin flat; primary and secondary venation distinctly different with secondaries relatively little developed and not or rarely joining the intramarginal vein; primary veins 10‒35 on each side of the midrib, in median part of lamina at divergence angle of 50‒70° and 3‒16 mm apart; intramarginal vein present, 1‒7.6 mm from margin, secondary intramarginal vein present. Petiole 3.4‒22 mm long. Reproductive seasonal growth unit with a reproductive zone only, or with distinct vegetative and reproductive zones (rarely the main axis proximally with up to 2 leafy nodes, rarely the inflorescences inserted at the nodes of short (up to c. 12 cm long) leafy shoots produced from the knobs from which the typical inflorescences arise). Inflorescence leafless; below the leaves or cauline, paniculate, up to 9‒43 by 8‒30 cm, major axis 2.5‒6 mm thick at the midpoint, bark smooth, weakly furfuraceous; bracts caducous; bracteoles subtending each flower, caducous. Flower buds with the apex rounded to obtuse. Flowers white or cream (rarely crimson). Hypanthium dull,minutely (but distinctly) wrinkled, ribbed, not visibly gland-dotted; stipitate; goblet-shaped or funnel-shaped (when funnel-shaped, narrowly so); 4.7‒10 by 2.8‒6 mm; stipe 2.3‒4.8 mm long. Calyx lobes 4, very depressedly triangular or transversely narrowly semi-elliptic, 0.5‒1 mm long. Petals 4 or sometimes 6, calyptrate (coherent and falling as a cap). Staminal disc descending ( Fig. 2 : 2.6). Stamens 6‒12 mm long. Style 4‒8 mm long. Placentation axile-median; placenta a semi-ellipsoid, semi-ovoid or hemispherical cushion, scarcely peltate. Ovules 13‒18 per locule, ascending or spread- ing, arranged irregularly. Mature fruit red, black, purple, pink or white, plane or minutely and only slightly wrinkled, ellipsoid (sometimes almost spherical), 20‒50 by 14‒40 mm excluding the calyx; with the hypanthium rim not appreciably expanding in fruit and 3.5‒5.5 mm diam; seed ellipsoid, up to 25 mm across.

Distribution — Indonesia (AruIslands,PapuaProvince), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Australia.

Habitat & Ecology — Gallery rainforest, coral seashore overhanging water, disturbed forest, poorly developed rainforest with intermixed scrub-woodland elements, primary rainforest, rainforest pocket in grassland area, edge of monsoon vine forest, steep foreshores, primary forest at beachside, lowland hill forest, forest on ultrabasic rock near sea, low scrubby forest on broken coral, associated with Diospyros ellipticifolia Bakh. ( Ebenaceae ) in limestone beach forest, well-drained secondary forest, well-drained primary forest at lake side, alongside dried-up creek beds on flats in mixed secondary rainforest skirted by savannah country, dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest on ridge, mangrove forest on coral sand and rubble. Altitude 0‒ 600 m.

Notes — 1. In some collections, the inflorescence branches are furfuraceous only in a longitudinal band on each of two opposing faces of each internode. Inflorescences continue to be produced from the same site in successive seasons, leading to the development of distinct knobs (brachyblasts) on the trunk or branch.

2. As the lectotype designated by Diels (1922) apparently is no longer extant, the specimen in L is designated lectotype above. An isosyntype of Versteeg 1899 has been seen from L, and L also has a specimen of Koch 505, a collection that Lauterbach (1910) tentatively ascribed to S. branderhorstii but which appears well placed in the species.

3. The description and figure of S. peekelii ( Peekel 1984) is adequate for the species to be placed within the synonymy of S. branderhorstii . Similarly, the description of S. kietanum Rech. and the photographs available online confirm its place- ment with S. branderhorstii .

Figures

Map 2 Distribution of Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb.

Fig. 1 Scanning Electron Micrographs:Furfuraceous inflorescence branch- lets in Syzygium. a–c. Syzygium furfuraceum Merr.& L.M.Perry: a. Branchlet showing strongly furfuraceous surface;b.close-up of epidermal layer:1. outer epidermal flake; 2. spongy epidermal tissue; c. detail of epidermal layer: 1. outer epidermal flake; 2. spongy epidermal tissue. — d–e. Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb. d. Branchlet showing weakly furfuraceous surface; e. close-up of epidermal layer (a–c: Takeuchi, Siga & Towati 14944; d–e: NGF (Vandenberg & Mann) 42251, all CANB). — Scale bars: a, d = 1 mm; b, e = 100 μm; c = 10 μm. — Photos by Mark Talbot.

Fig. 2 Staminal disc types in Syzygium species. Series 1: Flat; series 2: descending; series 3: ascending; series 4: raised.