Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 461 > Melastomataceae > Oxyspora

6. Oxyspora stellulata Kingwfo-0000161402

J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 9. 1900; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 1: 767. 1922.— Hylocharis stellulata (King) Nayar, J. Jap. Bot. 53: 333. 1978.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub or treelet, to 5 m high, the branchlets slightly flattened and becoming cylindric, at first minutely stellate-furfuraceous, later glabrous. Leaves equal to subequal in size, ovate to elliptic, 25–35 x 11–18 cm, base obtuse or cordate, the apex acuminate, the tip ca 2 cm long, margin entire, lamina with 2 pairs of lateral primary veins, the inner pair arising from 0.5–6 cm above the blade base, plus an intramarginal pair from slightly above the base, mature blades glabrous but covered with minute scales especially on the veins, petioles flattened, 6–11.5 cm long. Inflorescence axes stellate-furfuraceous, later glabrous, 20–34 cm long, flowers in umbellate clusters on the distalmost branchlets, peduncle 4-angled, bracts and bracteoles subulate, 1–4 mm long and covered with stellate hairs, caducous after flowers mature. Flowers 4-merous, pedicels 15–20 mm long, minutely puberulous. Hypanthium cylindrical, 3.5–5 mm long, often with 4 or 8 vertical ridges, minutely puberulous; calyx lobes triangular, less frequently ligular, 1–1, 5 mm long. Petals 7–9 mm long, obovate to elliptic, pink. Stamens 8, dimorphic, the 4 outer ones linear, purple and twice as long (7–9 mm) as the inner 4, short, yellow ones. Capsule obconical, 5–6 mm long, crowned by the persistent calyx rim.

Thailand : PENINSULAR: Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat.

Distribution : Malay Peninsula (Perak – syntypes of Oxyspora stellulata, Sumatra), Sumatra (type of O. robusta).

Ecology : Understory of primary and secondary evergreen forests, 200–500 m alt.

Vernacular : Mare khon khui (มะเรขนขุย)(Peninsular).