Phyllanthus virgatus G.Forst.

Verwijs, J. I. M., Bouman, R. W. & Welzen, P. C. van, 2019, A taxonomic revision of Phyllanthus subgenus Macraea (Phyllanthaceae), Blumea 64 (3), pp. 231-252 : 247-248

22. Phyllanthus virgatus G.Forst. — Map 14

Phyllanthus virgatus G.Forst.(1786) 65;Hook.& Arn.(1826) 69;G.L.Webster & Airy Shaw (1971) 86; Airy Shaw (1975) 186; (1980) 194; Punt (1980) 163; A.C.Sm.(1981) 464; G.L.Webster (1986) 94;Lobr.-Callen et al.(1988) 294; J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl (1997) 157; M. Schmid (1991) 44; Chantar. (2007) 504;P.T.Li & M.G.Gilbert (2008) 181; Y.J. Chen et al. (2009) 49;R.L.Barrett & I.Telford (2015) 158. — Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. virgatus (G.Forst.) Müll.Arg. (1863) 32; (1866) 392. — Diasperus virgatus (G.Forst.) Kuntze (1891) 597. — Lectotype (designated by Smith 1981): Banks & Solander s.n. (holo BM), Tahiti.

Phyllanthus simplex Retz. (1789) 29; Thwaites (1861) 282; Baill. (1862a) 237;Müll.Arg. (1863) 32;(1866) 391;Laness.(1866) 611;Miq. (1867) 127; Benth. (1873) 111; Hook.f. (1887) 295; Drake (1893) 181; F.B.Forbes & Hemsl. (1889–1902) 423; C.B.Rob. (1909) 81; Merr. (1923) 395; Domin (1927) 876; Guillaumin (1948) 177; J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl (1997) 157; G.L.Webster (1997) 213; W.J. Kress et al. (2003) 234; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab. (2007) 38; Chakrab. & N.P.Balakr. (2018) 307. — Phyllanthus simplex Retz.var. genuinus Müll.Arg.(1866) 391,nom.inval.; Domin (1927) 877. — Type: Koenig s.n. (holo C), India, Tranqebar.

Phyllanthus anceps Vahl (1791) 95. — Melanthesa anceps (Vahl) Miq. (1859) 371. — Type: Unknown collector s.n. (holo C).

Phyllanthus pedunculatus Kostel. (1836) 1769. — Phyllanthus depressus Buch.-Ham.ex Dillwyn (1839) 51, nom.illeg.,nom.superfl.;Müll.Arg.(1866) 432. — Diasperus pedunculatus (Kostel.) Kuntze (1891) 597. — Diasperus depressus Kuntze (1891) 599, nom. Illeg., nom. superfl. — Type: Rheede, Horti Malab. 10 (1690) t. 27.

( Phyllanthus fruticosus B.Heyne ex Benth. in Wall., Numer. List (1847) 237 (nr. 7899A), nom. nud.)

( Phyllanthus marginatus B.Heyne ex Benth. in Wall., Numer. List (1847) 237 (nr. 7899A), nom. nud.)

Macraea oblongifolia Wight (1852) 27, pl. 1902-1. — Lectotype (designated by G.L. Webster in Dassan. & Clayton 1997): Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5 (1852) pl. 1902-1.

Macraea ovalifolia Wight (1852) 27, pl. 1902-4. — Lectotype (designated here): Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5 (1852) pl. 1902-4.

Melanthesa rupestris Miq. (1859) 371. — Type: Zollinger s.n. (holo U ( U0002059 ); iso P, PC), Indonesia, Flores.

Phyllanthus pratensis Pancher ex Baill. (1862a) 237. — Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. pratensis (Pancher ex Baill.) Müll.Arg. (1863) 33; (1866) 392. — Type: E. Vieillard 1197, 1855 (holo P ( P00066448 ); iso G-DC ( G00318230 ), P ( P00066449 , P00066450 , P00066451 )), New Caledonia, Saint-Vincent .

Phyllanthus conterminus Müll.Arg. (1863) 32; (1866) 389. — Diasperus conterminus (Müll.Arg.) Kuntze (1891) 599. — Type: Hogdson 215 (holo G-DC ( G00325912 )), Australia.

Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. myriocladus Müll.Arg. (1863) 33; (1866) 392. — Type: E. Vieillard 1199 (holo G-DC ( G00318219 ); iso P ( P00066447 )), New Caledonia, Fort de France.

Phyllanthus beckleri Müll.Arg. (1865) 74; Baill. (1865–1866) 341; (1866) 390; J. T. Hunter & J. J. Bruhl (1997) 157. — Diasperus beckleri (Müll.Arg.) Kuntze (1891) 598. — Type : H. Beckler 668 (holo G-DC ( G00319824 )), Australia, Clarence river .

Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. brevipes Müll.Arg. (1866) 392. — Type: E. Viellard s.n. (holo G-DC; iso? P ( P00066452 , P00066453 )), New Caledonia, Wagap .

Phyllanthus filicaulis Benth.(1873) 111;J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl (1997) 157. — Phyllanthus simplex Retz.var. filicaulis (Benth.) Domin (1927) 876. — Type: C. Stuart s.n. (holo K), Australia, New South Wales, New England.

Phyllanthus simplex Retz.var. leiospermus Benth.(1873) 111. — Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. genuinus subvar. leiospermus (Benth.) Domin (1927) 876, nom. inval. — Type: T.L. Mitchell 66 (holo K), Australia, Narren river.

Phyllanthus trachygyne Benth. (1873) 103; J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl (1997) 157. — Lectotype (designated by Hunter & Bruhl 1997): M. Schultz 668 (K), Australia, Northern Territory, Port Darwin.

Phyllanthus weinlandii K.Schum. in K. Schum. & Lauterb. (1905) 287. — Syn- types : K. Weinland 241 ( BRI, K, M), Papua New Guinea, Morobe Province, Finschhafen ; K. Weinland 389a (n.v.), Papua New Guinea, Matatakum .

Phyllanthus eboracensis S. Moore (1920) 216; J. T. Hunter & J. J. Bruhl (1997) 158. — Type : E. Dämel s.n. (holo BM,not seen;iso K), Australia, Cape York .

Phyllanthus narayanswamii Gamble (1925a) 329; (1925b) 902; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab. (2007) 381; Chakrab. & N.P.Balakr. (2018) 349. — Lectotype (designated by Chakrabarty & Balakrishnan 2018): V. Narayanswami 640 (K; iso CAL,not seen), India,Dummakouda,Rampa hills,Godawari district.

Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. myrtifolius Domin (1927) 876; J. T. Hunter & J. J.Bruhl (1997) 158. — Type: Domin s.n. (n.v.), Australia, North East Queensland .

Phyllanthus simplex Retz. var. pinifolius Domin (1927) 877; J. T. Hunter & J. J.Bruhl (1997) 158. — Type: Domin s.n. (n.v.), Australia, Queensland .

Usually erect, rarely sprawling shrubs or herbs, 30‒100 cm high, monoecious; branches brown or purplish, minutely ridged, glabrous, distally brown or sage-green, flattened and winged; internodes 1‒ 5 mm long. Stipules triangular, 1‒2.5 by 0.5‒1 mm, base cordate, margin entire or erose, apex attenuate. Leaves: petiole 0.5 ‒1 mm long, glabrous; blade elliptic or ovate, rarely suborbicular or obovate, 3 ‒ 40 by 1‒ 6 mm, (1‒)2.5‒ 5(‒ 6.7) times longer than wide, glabrous, dark green above, lighter green underneath, base rounded, margin not thickened, (slightly) revolute, rarely flat, apex acute, obtuse or rounded, often minutely mucronate; midrib flat above, prominent underneath, lateral veins 5 ‒8 per side, flat above, slightly prominent underneath. Staminate flowers solitary or in pairs with sometimes a pistillate flower, 0.8 ‒1.7 mm diam; pedicel 0.2 ‒ 5 mm long, glabrous, slender; sepals 6, elliptic, 0.5 ‒1 by 0.2‒ 0.5 mm, red to purple to green to yellow to white, apex obtuse; disc glands 6, circular, c. 0.2 mm diam; stamens 3, c. 0.4 mm long, filaments free, reflexed, thecae ovoid, c. 0.2 mm long; for pollen see Punt (1980) and Wu et al. (2016). Pistillate flowers solitary, rarely in pairs, with sometimes a staminate flowers, 1.5 ‒ 2.6 mm diam; pedicel 3 ‒9 mm long, glabrous; sepals 6, elliptic, 0.8 ‒1.2 by 0.3 ‒0.5 mm, red to purple to green to yellow to white, apex obtuse, rarely acute; disc annular, slightly crispate, flat, c. 0.9 mm diam; ovary sessile, globular, c. 0.8 mm diam, c. 0.5 mm high, glabrous or verrucate; style absent, stigmas 3, c. 0.6 mm long, bifid for half of the length, reflexed. Fruits oblate or subglobular, often bivalved, 2 ‒ 3.5 by 1.5 ‒ 2 mm, 6-grooved, of which often 3 slightly deeper, greenish, glabrous or verrucate; pedicel 4 ‒9 mm long, glabrous; columella c. 1 mm long. Seeds 1.2 ‒1.8 by 1‒1.4 mm, minutely verrucate, rarely smooth, light brown, verrucae circular, randomly placed or longitudinally linear.

Distribution — Widespread, possibly introduced in multiple locations, occurring in most of southern Asia, ranging from Pakistan to Australia and the Pacific islands up to Hawai’i.

Habitat & Ecology — Occurring in grassland, forests, swamps or cultivated fields, both in wet and dry soils. Often in disturbed, grazed or fire-damaged areas. Altitude: 0‒1850 m. Flowering and fruiting all year round.

Uses — Used as an antiseptic, against intestinal parasites, eye diseases, cold, fever, diarrhoea, dysentery, itch, gonorrhoea and (mammary) abscesses ( Smith 1981, Quattrocchi 2016).

Vernacular name(s) — China: Huang zhu xi cao ( Quattrocchi 2016). India: seed under leaf, virgate leaf-flower, banaunri, bhui- avali, bhiuavate, bhui-amla, biradi pello, bon baberi, jar amla, kaadu nelli, kadunelli, motibhuiavali, niruri, tanda meral, uchchi usirika, uchhiyusirka (www.flowersofindia.net; Quattrocchi 2016). Myanmar: shit-sha ( Kress et al. 2003). Thailand: khaang amphai, luuk tai bai, phaeng kham hoi ( Quattrocchi 2016). Laos: ket ‘hoy, ‘khi doy ( Quattrocchi 2016). Vietnam: v[aar]y [oos]e ( Quattrocchi 2016). Indonesia: sahakèpo, sakahepo ( Heyne 1950, Quattrocchi 2016). Philippines: kaya-an, kayut-búlan, kayut-bulang ( Merrill 1923, Quattrocchi 2016). Tahiti: tei ni niu ( Smith 1981).

Notes — 1. According to Hunter & Bruhl (1997) the distinguishing character between P. exilis and P. virgatus is that the ovary of P. exilis is verrucate, and smooth in P. virgatus . However, smooth and verrucate ovaries occur in P. virgatus in areas outside Australia. See note under P. exilis for differences with P. virgatus . Additional distinguishing characters are the shape and size of the leaf blade, which is usually narrower and smaller in P. exilis and the diameter of the staminate flowers, which is also usually smaller in P. exilis than in P. virgatus .

2. Phyllanthus narayanswamii Gamble is here combined with P. virgatus . The differences described by previous authors to distinguish it from P. virgatus were a thickened revolute margin and subsessile staminate flowers. However, the margin differences are minimal and subsessile flowers can also be found in P. virgatus . The nervature of the leaves on the type of P. narayanswamii differs a little bit from other specimens of P. virgatus in the prominent nervature on the lower side of the leaf blade.

Figures

Map 14 Distribution of Phyllanthus virgatus G.Forst.