Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 88 > Euphorbiaceae > Aporosa

5. Aporosa ficifolia Baill.wfo-0000248666

Adansonia 11: 177. 1873–1876; Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 558. 1927; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 215. 1972. Fig. 16: E.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : (Small) tree, up to 10 m high, mainly hirsute. Stipules ovate, 7–11 by 4–8 mm, caducous. Leaves: petiole 4–24 by (1.5–)3–4 mm, terete, pulvini indistinct; blades elliptic (to obovate), 8–25 by 4.5–12 cm, length/width ratio 1.8–2.1, coriaceous, drying (greenish) brown, base rounded to acute, basal glands indistinct, hairy; margin subentire with at most protruding hairy glands, recurved, apex acute to acuminate, hairy on midrib and nerves above, densely hirsute on venation underneath, disc-like glands very few, indistinct within marginal arches; venation bullate, nerves in 8–10 pairs. Inflorescences axillary. Staminate inflorescences 1 or 2 together, 15–26 mm long, hirsute, light yellow; peduncle absent; bracts triangular, 2–2.5 mm long; glomerules inconspicuous, with 6 or 7 densely set flowers, continuously set along rachis. Staminate flowers 1.5–2 mm long, scented; pedicel 0.3–1 mm long; sepals 4 or 5, obovate, 1.2–1.8 mm long, almost free; stamens 2 or 3, 1–1.5 mm long, slightly exserted; anthers 0.3–0.4 mm long; pistillode minute. Pistillate inflorescences 1 or 2 together, 4–7 mm long, hirsute, flowers up to 5, densely set along rachis; bracts triangular, 1.5–1.8 mm long. Pistillate flowers 3.5–4 mm long, sessile; sepals 4 or 5, ovate, patent, 1.5–2.2 mm long; ovary 2-locular, tomentose; stigmas 1–1.5 mm long, bifid to ca halfway. Fruits globose, not stiped, not beaked, 11–13 by 10–12 mm, yellow-green to brown outside, whitish inside, drying dark brown, tomentose; septae and column hairy. Seeds ca 7.5 by 4 by 3 mm.

Thailand : EASTERN: Surin (Kap Choeng), Si Sa Ket (Chong Bat Lak, Kantharalak), Ubon Ratchathani (Dong Thawang, Phu Chong Na-Yoi, Warin Chamrap).

Distribution : Cambodia, Vietnam (type).

Ecology : Evergreen, mixed, or dry deciduous forests, on sandy soil, 200–350 m alt.

Vernacular : Mueat khon (เหมือดขน)(Chaiyaphum).

Notes: Aporosa serrata has often been confused with A. ficifolia (and A. ficifolia with A. pseudoficifolia; n.b. the latter does not occur in Thailand). Aporosa ficifolia and A. serrata both have bullate leaves, but A. serrata has serrate, flat leaf margins, a thinner petiole, distinct basal leaf glands, shorter staminate inflorescences, and less hairy fruits than A. ficifolia (which has recurved, subentire leaf margins, where at most the glands are protruding and the basal leaf glands are at most indistinct).