Lasianthus kinabaluensis Stapf

Zhu, H., Roos, M. C. & Ridsdale, C. E., 2012, A taxonomic revision of the Malesian species of Lasianthus (Rubiaceae), Blumea 57 (1), pp. 1-102 : 51

63. Lasianthus kinabaluensis Stapf

Lasianthus kinabaluensis Stapf (1894) 184; Wernham ex Gibbs (1914) 95; Merr. (1921) 577. — Type: Haviland 1306 (lecto K; designated here; isolecto SING); Haviland 1323 (para K), Borneo, Penokok, 3000–3200 ft.

Shrubs, up to 2 m high, glabrous; branchlets terete, slender, c. 1 mm diam, nitid. Leaves: blades lanceolate, 5 –10 by 1.5– 2.5 cm, thinly coriaceous, apex caudate-acuminate, base acute or cuneate, the margin often reflexed, midrib flat or depressed above, prominent beneath, nerves slender, prominent beneath, 3–4 pairs, ascending at an angle of over 60°, curved near the leaf margin and joining the veins above forming an intramarginal vein, nervules slender, loosely anastomosing, distinct beneath, reticulate; petioles 5 –10 mm long. Stipules minute, triangular, c. 1 mm long, ciliate at margin. Cymes sessile; bracts absent. Flowers sessile; calyx campanulate, c. 1.5 mm long, glabrous, lobes 4–5, triangular, c. 0.8 mm long; corolla c. 4–5 mm long, glabrous outside, lobes 4–5. Drupes subglobose, c. 5 mm diam, glabrous, 3–4-obtuse-ridged, verrucose; pyrenes 3–4, verrucose on the abaxial face.

Distribution — Endemic to Borneo.

Note — This species is related to L. constrictus by its glabrous plants, calyx constricted at the base of the limb and warty drupes with 3–4 pyrenes. It differs from the latter by having relatively small and thin leaves with looped venation.