e-Flora of Thailand

Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 490 > Melastomataceae > Sonerila

7. Sonerila moluccana Roxb.wfo-0000162077

Fl. Ind. ed. Carey & Wall. 1: 182. 1820; Fl. Ind. ed. Carey 1: 178. 1832, Jack, Mal. Misc. 1: 7. 1820; Bakh.f. in Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 361. 1963. Fig. 45.


Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.



Synonyms & Citations :

Sonerila moluccana var. caulescens Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat. 1: 562. 1856.
Sonerila begoniifolia Blume, Flora 14: 490. 1831; Stapf in King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 41. 1900; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 1: 790. 1922; Bakh.f., Rec. Trav. Bot. Néerl. 40: 254. 1943.
Sonerila paradoxa Naudin, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 3, 15: 321. 1851; Stapf in King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 40. 1900.
Sonerila capitata Stapf & King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 35. 1900.
Sonerila caesia Stapf & King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 36. 1900; Ridl., Fl. Mal. Pen 1: 788. 1922; Craib in Fl. Siam. Enum. 1: 689. 1931.
Sonerila brachyantha Stapf & King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 37. 1900.
Sonerila macrophylla Stapf & King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 69: 39. 1990.
Sonerila setosa Ridl., J. As. Soc. Straits 79: 71. 1918.
Sonerila matangensis Ridl., Kew Bull. 1946: 35. 1946.


Description : Low rhizomatous herb, to 20 cm tall, stem quadrangular, entire plant softly reddish long-pilose, except for the upper leaf surfaces. Leaves crowded at stem apices, those of a pair dimorphic and asymmetric, obliquely oblong or ovate, 6–14 x 3–7.5 cm, base asymmetric, auriculate on one side, apex acuminate, margin serrulate and ciliate, lamina with 2–3 pairs of lateral primary veins departing above the blade base, above sparsely pilose or glabrous, below on the nerves densely appressed pilose with reddish hairs, petioles 15–4 cm long, setose. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary cincinnus to 11 cm long, with few to many flowers in two rows, peduncle 0.5–6 cm long, with two small bracts at the base. Hypanthium cylindrical to campanulate, 3–4 mm long, muricate; calyx lobes ovate-triangular, 1 mm long; pedicel 1–4 mm long, glabrous. Petals ovate to oblong, 6–7 mm long, white or pink. Stamens 3, anthers 2.5–3 mm long, yellow. Capsule broadly campanulate or ovoid, 4–6 mm long (excluding the 2–4 mm long stalk), muricate with whitish pustules or tubercles.


Thailand : PENINSULAR: Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat.


Distribution : Malay Peninsula (type), Sumatra, Java, Borneo.


Ecology : Common on rocks by streams or in shaded areas in primary evergreen forests beside small streams, 50–1,000 m alt.


Notes: Easily recognized by the Begonia-like leaves. Jack's statement that the species is a native of the Moluccas, islands between Celebes and New Guinea, has given rise to some confusion. Roxburgh apparently used the term "Moluccas" to cover other parts of the Malayan Archipelago, and it is almost certain that the type of Sonerila moluccana actually came from Penang (Merrill, 1952). Craib's citation in Fl. Siam. Enum. 1: 689. 1931) of Sonerila bicolor Stapf & King for Thailand was based on the misidentified collection SMITH 392 (BK) which is S. moluccana Roxb.


Main

Figure 45
Rachun Pooma (Narathiwat)
Rachun Pooma (Betong, Yala)