Ficus flavistipulata C.C.Berg, 2012

Berg, C., 2012, Seven new Malesian species of Ficus (Moraceae), Blumea 57 (2), pp. 147-157 : 153

Ficus flavistipulata C.C.Berg , sp. nov. — Fig. 6

Ficu camptandra similis indumento breviore breviter luteolo ad albido, glandulis ceraceis in nervorum basalium lateralium extensionibus, receptaculo apice crateriformi differt. — Typus: Mendum et al. 165 (holo BO; iso E, L), Indonesia, Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Gunung Boliohuto , 23 Apr. 2002 .

Tree to 20 m tall, with short buttresses. Leafy twigs 2– 5 mm thick, solid, (minutely) whitish to yellowish puberulous to glabrous; periderm persistent. Leaves laxly spirally arranged to subdistichous; lamina (sub)coriaceous, oblong to elliptic, 6 –14 by 3 –7.7 cm, apex acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, margin subentire; upper surface glabrous, smooth, lower surface whitish puberulous to subtomentose, mainly on the veins, or only on the midrib; cystoliths only beneath; lateral veins 4– 8 pairs, not furcate away from the margin, the basal pair up to 1/10 –1/3 the length of the lamina, departing away from the base of the lamina, mostly branched; tertiary venation subscalariform, flat; waxy glands in slit-shaped extensions of the basal lateral veins; petiole 1– 5.5 cm long, 1.5– 2 mm thick, whitish puberulous, the epidermis flaking off; stipules c. 1 cm long, yellow-appressed-puberulous to subsericeous, caducous. Figs on (clusters of) up to 20 cm long leafless branchlets, on the older wood; peduncle 0.5 –3 cm long, basal bracts verticillate, 1–1.5 mm long, persistent; receptacle subglobose, 1–1.5 cm diam, to 1.5 cm long stipitate, glabrous, the apex crateriform; ostiole more or less sunken, 2 –2.5 mm diam, with the upper bracts (always?) minutely white appressed-puberulous; internal hairs very sparse to absent. Pistillate flowers: tepals reddish, free; ovary stipitate, style of long-styled flowers glabrous. Fruits with lateral ribs.

Distribution — Indonesia, northern and southern Sulawesi.

Habitat — Forest, at altitudes up to 450 m.

Additional collections examined. Kofman 195 (L), Indonesia, Sulawesi, Selantan, S of Soroako , 18 Oct. 1993; Mendum et al. 216 ( E, L) , Indonesia, Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Gunung Boliohuto , 25 Apr. 2002 .

Notes — 1. The features of the pistillate flowers and the fruits point at membership of subg. Synoecia , the subdivision of root-climbers; by the lack of staminate flowers the systematic position cannot be confirmed. However, all labels of the collections included mention tree as the life form, apparently not by mistake. A similar life form and phyllotaxis, as well as the (long) fig-bearing branchlets on the older wood, is found in F. anserina (Corner) C.C. Berg (2007b) . Accepted as a member of Synoecia , this species shows affinities to F. camptandra Diels , from New Guinea, one of the ramiflorous to cauliflorous representatives of section Rhizocladus subsection Punctulifoliae Sata (see Berg & Corner 2005).

2. This new species differs from F. camptandra , except for the habit, phyllotaxis and long fig-bearing branchlets, in the much shorter, yellowish to whitish indumentum on various plant parts, making the stipules yellowish, the flat tertiary venation, the crateriform apex of the fig receptacle, and the position of the waxy glands, namely in slit-shaped extensions of the basal lateral veins, such as can be found in the species of sect. Neomorphe King of subg. Sycomorus (Gasp.) Miq. (see Berg & Corner 2005).

3. There is a clear variation in the length of the basal lateral veins, which depart away from the base of the lamina as their bases run parallel to the midrib and cause the slits containing the waxy glands.

4. This new species can be keyed out in the Regional key for Celebes ( Berg & Corner 2005: 487) by inserting this lead before the old lead 6 by:

6. Waxy glands in slit-shaped extensions of the basal lateral veins............................... F. flavistipula

6. Waxy glands not in slit-shaped extension of the basal lateral veins................................. old lead 6

Figures

Fig. 6 Ficus flavistipulata C.C.Berg. Leafy twigs and leafless branchlets with figs (Mendum 165, L).