Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 95 > Euphorbiaceae > Aporosa

12. Aporosa octandra (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) Vickerywfo-0000249366

Enum. Fl. Pl. Nepal 3: 193. 1982; Chakrab. & M.G.Gangop., J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 17: 166. 1993.— Myrica? Octandra Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don, Prod. Fl. Nepal: 56. 1825.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub to tree, up to 15 m high; young branches sparsely tomentose. Stipules (narrowly) ovate, 6–9 by 3–5 mm, caducous. Leaves: petiole terete, lowly ribbed, 7–23 mm long, pulvini distinct; blade ovate to elliptic, 5–23.5 by 2–8 cm; length/width ratio 1.5–2.9. papery to coriaceous, drying greyish-brown or greenish-brown above, greenish or brownish beneath, base rounded to cuneate, basal glands small, margin slightly undulate to crenulate or serrate, marginal glands regular, apex acuminate to cuspidate, very sparsely puberulous, especially on midrib and nerves beneath, disc-like glands regular, within marginal arches; venation especially raised beneath, nerves in 8–11 pairs. Inflorescences axillary. Staminate inflorescences 1–5 together, 16–46 by 1.5–2.5 mm, puberulous; peduncle absent; bracts triangular, ca 0.5 mm long; glomerules with 6–8 laxly set flowers, continuously spaced along rachis. Staminate flowers 0.7–1 mm long, sessile; sepals 4, obovate, 0.7–1 mm long; stamens 2, slightly exserted, 0.5–1.2 mm long; anthers 0.2–0.3 mm long; pistillode indistinct. Pistillate inflorescences 1–3 together, 3–11 mm long, (red) puberulous, flowers up to 11, densely arranged along rachis; bracts triangular, 0.6–0.9 mm long. Pistillate flowers 3–5 mm long, sessile; sepals 4, ovate, patent, 0.7–1 mm long; staminodes occasionally 2; ovary stiped, 2(3)-locular, (sparsely) sericeous; stigmas slightly raised, 0.8–2 mm long, bifid to near base. Fruits ovoid to ellipsoid (to globose), young ones slightly stiped, slightly beaked, 9–13 by 6–10 mm, drying (dark) brown to black, sparsely hairy, not fleshy, septae and column sparsely sericeous. Seeds 7–8 by 5–6 by 3–4 mm.

Thailand : See under varieties.

Distribution : From Pakistan, North India, and Nepal (type) to South China, South E Asia, W Malesia and Sulawesi.

Ecology : Primary, secondary, subtropical, evergreen, or (mixed) deciduous forests, savannas, moist to rather dry; in shaded understorey or (partly) open places, on hills, (steep) slopes, forests edges, roadsides, plains, thickets, and along streams; on limestone, clay, or rocky loam, granite or sandstone bedrock; 0–1,500 m alt.

Uses: Wood used for house posts and fuel. Leaves used to dry cloth black. Bark chewed as a kind of betel by Karin Hill tribe (Thailand).

Notes: An extremely variable species in leaf size and indumentum, especially in Thailand, where the different varieties co-occur, together with almost every thinkable intermediate form. Intermediate forms with especially Aporosa villosa, but also with A. wallichii and A. yunnanensis exist. The species has been subdivided into four varieties, three of which occur in Thailand [var. chinensis (Champ. ex Benth.) Schot occurs just outside Thailand]. The definition of the varieties malesiana and yunnanensis should be strictly used, all other material can be referred to var. octandra.