Volume 16 > Part 1 > Year 2022 > Page 210 > Annonaceae > Monoon

11. Monoon longifolium (Sonn.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunderswfo-0001425469

Taxon 61: 1032. 2012.— Uvaria longifolia Sonn., Voy. Indes Orient. 2: 233, pl. 131. 1782.— Uvaria altissima Pennant, Outlin. Globe 1: 83, t. 5. 1798, nom. superfl.— Unona longifolia (Sonn.) Dunal, Monogr. Anonac. 109. 1817.— Guatteria longifolia (Sonn.) Wall. ex Hook.f. & Thomson, Fl. Ind. 139. 1855.— Polyalthia longifolia (Sonn.) Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 398. 1864.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree up to 18 m tall, bark smooth to shallowly and vertically grooved, pale grey. Twigs glabrous to sparsely puberulous with conspicuous lenticels. Leaves chartaceous, symmetrically lanceolate, 14‒28 by 2.5‒5.5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, apex narrowly acute, glabrous on both surfaces, midrib slightly raised above, secondary veins slightly curving, 22‒30 per side, tertiary venation irregularly reticulate; petioles 3‒5 mm long, flat above, glabrous. Inflorescences forming fascicles in axils of leafy twigs and on woody tubercles of leafless twigs, up to 14-flowered, peduncle and rachis present, pedicels 15‒25(‒28) mm long, 0.8‒1 mm thick, brown-puberulous, each bearing an adnate ovate bract 1‒1.2 by 1.5‒1.8 mm between midpoint and apex; buds broadly ovoid. Sepals valvate, chartaceous, ovate, 2.2‒2.5 by 3‒4.5 mm, apex acute, puberulous on both sides. Petals valvate at the apices, erect to spreading, pale green to pale yellow, chartaceous, lanceolate, apex acute, glabrescent on both sides; outer petals 10‒15 by 3‒3.5 mm; inner petals 12‒16 by 4‒6 mm. Stamens short-cuneate, 0.7‒0.8 mm long, anther connective apex truncate. Carpels numerous, 0.8‒1.2 mm long, hairy, stigmas level with anther connective apices, subglobose or obovate, 0.2‒0.4 mm long, hairy. Receptacle conical with a flat top, 2.5‒3 mm in diam., 1‒1.2 mm thick, puberulous. Fruit of up to 16 monocarps borne on a pedicel 25‒35 mm long, 1.5‒2 mm thick. Monocarps dark purple when mature, ellipsoid, 1.8‒2.2 by 1.2‒1.4 cm, glabrous, obtuse at apex and base, stipe 5‒8 mm long, 1‒1.5 mm thick; pericarp 1.5‒2 mm thick. Seeds ellipsoid, 10‒12 by 15‒17 mm, smooth, pale brown, often shiny.

Thailand : Cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Distribution : India and Sri Lanka, planted throughout the Old World tropics.

Ecology : Deciduous forests, 50‒350 m alt. Flowering: February‒April; fruiting: March‒May.

Vernacular : A sok india (อโศกอินเดีย); a sok sen khabrial (อโศกเซนต์คาเบรียล)(Bangkok).