Boehmeria pilosiuscula var. suffruticosa, 2013

Wilmot-Dear, C. M. & Friis, I., 2013, The Old World species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae). A taxonomic revision, Blumea 58 (2), pp. 85-216 : 203

b. var. suffruticosa Acharya, Friis & Wilmot-Dear , var. nov. — Fig. 38j ; Map 41

A var. typica atque a multis ceteris speciebus generis axe florali brevissima atque glomerulos femineos contiguos crebrissimos ferenti structura dura interrupte subcylindrica formanti differt; a var. typica etiam parte florifera axis 1–2 cm tantum (nec 3–10 cm) longa, foliis numquam bullatis neque crasse chartaceis atque ad marginem dentes ≤ 30 tantum numero, 1(–1.5) mm tantum altos (nec usque 2 mm altos) ferentibus distinguenda. — Typus: Larsen et al. 44502 (holo K;iso AAU), Thailand, Nan prov.,Sapan falls, 600 m.

Subshrub or herb. Leaves 3–9(–11) cm long; marginal teeth consistently only 25–30(–35), broader rather than more numerous in larger leaves, 1(–1.5) by 2–3(–4) mm; texture very thin-chartaceous; hairs adaxially soft, adpressed or half-adpressed. No entirely male axes seen; female and bisexual axes 1–3 cm long but lower 0.5–1 cm of axis often naked; female clusters contiguous, providing a thick (c. 0.5 cm diam) cylindrical appearance of the inflorescence-architecture which seems to be made up of one inflorescence-bearing axis only.

Distribution ― Burma, Thailand, southern China (including Hainan and Taiwan).

Habitat & Ecology ― Moist areas in evergreen forest, often by streams; roadside banks and barren stony areas; 500–1200 (–1500) m altitude.

Notes ― 1. This variety is distinctive in its female inflorescence-bearing axes which are extremely short (at most 2 cm long) and almost ‘cylindrical’ due to congested masses of clusters, and leaves small, often markedly dimorphic in both size and shape and/or markedly asymmetrical, thin-textured, shallowly serrate soft-hairy, veins slender.

2. This variety is the easier of the two to distinguish from B. virgata subsp. macrophylla var. scabrella . See detailed discussion in Note 8 under the species.

3. The joint publication of this new taxon was accepted by Acharya and is partly based on his earlier unpublished findings.

Figures

Map 41 Distribution of Boehmeria pilosiuscula (Blume) Hassk. var. suffruticosa Acharya, Friis & Wilmot-Dear.

Fig. 38 a–i: Boehmeria pilosiuscula (Blume) Hassk. var. pilosiuscula. a. Habit of stem with bisexual and female inflorescence-bearing axes; b. lower node of stem with branched male inflorescence-bearing axis; c. detail of stem showing two kinds of spreading hairs; d. leaf; e. leaf, detail of abaxial surface; f. detail of stem and stipule; g. upper part of bisexual inflorescence-bearing axis with congested female flower-clusters (inflorescences) below and few-flowered male clusters (inflorescences) at apex; h. male bud; i. fruiting perianth. — j: Boehmeria pilosiuscula var. suffruticosa Acharya, Friis & Wilmot-Dear. Habit of stem with bisexual and female inflorescence-bearing axes (a, e, f, h: Sinclair 10053, K; b: de Vriese s.n., L; c, d: Kostermans 18171, K; g: Henry 12370, K; i: Gammie 190, K; j: Henry 12696, K). — Scale bars: a, b, d, j = 2 cm; c, g-i = 1 mm; e, f = 2 mm.