Actephila dolichopoda Airy Shaw

Heijkoop, M. & Welzen, P. C. van, 2017, A revision of the genus Actephila (Phyllanthaceae) in the Malesian region, Blumea 62 (1), pp. 7-25 : 13

3. Actephila dolichopoda Airy Shaw — Fig. 3 ; Map 2

Actephila dolichopoda Airy Shaw (1978) 380;(1980a) 22. — Type: Carr 11774 (holo K; iso A, BM, L), Papua New Guinea, Kanosia .

Shrubs to trees, up to 5 m high; flowering branches 1–1.5 mm diam, covered with brown lenticels and hair stubbles. Indumentum : subglabrous with very short, papillae-like hairs on especially the younger branches, petioles, leaf blades; sericeous hairs on fruiting sepals. Stipules deltoid or broadly ovate to triangular or ovate, 0.8–1.6 by 0.5–0.9 mm, glabrous. Leaves: petioles 5–27(–37) mm long, glabrous, pulvinate at both ends, pulvini becoming corky with age; blade elliptic to somewhat obovate, 7–16.3 by 2.7–6.8 cm, 2.4–2.9 times as long as wide, papyraceous, base acute, margin flat, apex acuminate to cuspidate, adaxially mid-green, abaxially paler mid-green, glabrous; nerves 10–11 per side. Flowers solitary. Staminate flowers not seen. Pistillate flowers not seen, observations from fruit: sepals obovate, widest just above the middle, c. 6 by 2.5 mm, apex obtuse, outside somewhat sericeous; petals damaged; disc a distinct, thick, fleshy, wide ring, substantially covering the base of the sepals when fruiting. Fruits c. 1.8 cm diam, green; pedicels 27–85 by 0.75–1(–2) mm, straight, often widening towards apex, glabrous; sepals not enlarging, reflexed, outside somewhat sericeous, glabrescent; wall with a very knobbly surface, c. 2 mm thick, glabrous; columella 9–13 mm long, basally completely covering disc. Seeds 12–13 mm long, 7–9.5 mm wide, 6–8 mm high, widened seeds c. 12 mm long, c. 11 mm wide, 6–7 mm high.

Distribution — Papua New Guinea (endemic in the Central Prov.).

Habitat & Ecology — Lowland rain forest to (slightly decidu- ous) hill forest; soil: volcanic substrate. Altitude: sea-level up to 10 m (and likely higher). Flowering: April; fruiting: April, July.

Note — Typical for this species are the fruits on long, straight pedicels of up to 8.5 cm length.After dehiscence a fleshy nectar disc and a long columella, of up to 13 mm long, are visible with the columella extremely widening at the base completely covering the large disc. Further the fruit wall is somewhat thicker and more knobbly compared to the other species. Also remarkable are the branches covered with short, stiff, papillae-like hairs, while other Actephila species in this region either have short simple hairs or are glabrous on the branches. The stipules are on average short and narrow.

Figures

Map 2 Distribution of Actephila discoidea Heijkoop & Welzen (■), A. dolichopoda Airy Shaw (▲) and A. emarginata Heijkoop & Welzen (●).

Fig. 3 Actephila dolichopoda Airy Shaw (Phyllanthaceae; formerly Euphor- biaceae). a. Habit with dehisced fruits on long pedicels;b. papillae-like hairs on stem (Carr 11775, L). ― Drawing by Esmée Winkel, 2016.