Volume 7 > Part 4 > Year 2002 > Page 761 > Myristicaceae > Knema

14. Knema lenta Warb.wfo-0001085256

Mon. Myrist, 584. 1897; H.Lecomte, Not. Syst. 1, 4; 101. 1909; H.Lecomte, Fl. Gén. I.-C. 5, 2: 104. 1914; W.J.de Wilde, Blumea 25: 445, fig. 15. 1979. Fig. 12.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Tree 8–20 m. Twigs towards apex 1.5–2.5(–4) mm diam., glabrescent, at first with scurfy or woolly tomentum of hairs ca 0.1 mm long, sometimes mixed with dendroid hairs up to 0.2 mm long; bark lower down not tending to crack. Leaves: blade chartaceous or thin coriaceous, (ovate-)oblong or lanceolate-linear, 8–24(–33) by 2–8(–9) cm, above olivaceous to brown; lower surface not or hardly papillose, glabrescent, at first with a loose tomentum of stellate and stellate-dendroid hairs 0.2(–0.3) mm long, the tomentum often remaining for some longer period towards the base of the blade and on the petiole; midvein raised above; nerves 16–31 pairs, above flat or sunken; tertiary veining very fine, the areoles less than 0.5 mm diam., distinct above; leaf bud with hairs 0.1–0.2(–0.5) mm. Inflorescences usually pedunculate for 0.5–5 mm, simple or forked, up to 8 mm long; (5–)10–20-flowered in male; flowers with scurfy or woolly hairs 0.1(–0.3) mm long. Male flowers pedicel 5–10 mm long, bracteole minute, soon to tardily caducous, median or above; bud (depressed) globose, 3–4 by 3.5–4.5 mm, reddish inside; lobes splitting the bud to ca ⅘ deep; staminal disc circular or trigonous, flat, including anthers 1.5–2.5 mm diam., anthers (8–)9–16, column slender, 0.5–1.3 mm long. Female flowers pedicel 2–6(–10) mm long; bud ellipsoid-oblong or obovoid, 4–6 by 2–3.5 mm; ovary comparatively long-hairy with hairs 0.5–1 mm long. Fruits ellipsoid, sometimes narrowed at base, 1.8–3.5 by 1.2–2 cm, with conspicuous yellowish brown or rufous shaggy hairs 1–2 mm long, later often shed except for those at the very base, leaving a fine warty surface of the pericarp; stalk 2–8(–12) mm long.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Sukhothai; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi; SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi.

Distribution : Continental SE Asia: Bangladesh, Myanmar, S Vietnam (type).

Ecology : Mixed evergreen forests, riverine forests, hilly forests, 150–1,200 m alt. Flowering: September–December; fruiting: January–June.

Vernacular : Ma lueat noi (มะเลือดน้อย), muang lueat (ม่วงเลือด)(Chiang Mai).

Notes: The similar species Knema globularia, with partly the same distributional area, differs in the general shape of the male flower buds, in a generally more conspicuous tomentum on the flowers, and the texture of the leaves.

Knema andamanica differs in the shape and structure of the male flowers.

Specimens from South-Western (Kanchanaburi) and Peninsular (e.g. van Beusekom c.s. 479, 3839 and Larsen 31223), and from Bangladesh have the twig apices and the flowers with only a very thin inconspicuous tomentum of scale-like hairs c 0.1 mm long, the twig and leaves being soon glabrescent. In these specimens the tomentum of the ovary and the fruits is also relatively short, only ca 0.5 mm and 1–1.5 mm long respectively. In van Beusekom c.s. 3839 and Larsen 31223 the fruit stalks are relatively long, 8–12 mm. Possibly these specimens represent a separate taxon.