Volume 14 > Part 1 > Year 2018 > Page 21 > Cornaceae > Alangium

6. Alangium indochinense W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjeswfo-0001347792

Thai For. Bull. (Bot.) 44: 80. 2016. Fig. 1A. Plate III: A–B.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub or tree, 3–10 m tall, suckers usually with long thorns; crown widely and densely branched; twigs often with thorns, flowering when leafless, 1.5–3(–5) mm diam., glabrous or with ca 0.3 mm long hairs, glabrescent; bark of older twigs somewhat pale. Leaves: petiole 0.5–1.2 cm long; lamina elliptic-obovate, rarely nearly circular, broadest (slightly) above the middle, 5–15 by 3–6.5 cm, base cuneate (rarely rounded), slightly asymmetric, apex acute-acuminate; 3-veined from the base, lateral veins 3–5 on each side; intercostal venation scalariform-reticulate. Inflorescences on leafless twigs, all densely pubescent, hairs ca 0.2 mm long, few or several branched clusters of 5–20 flowers, terminal bud present but not obvious. Flowers: pedicel 1–5 mm long, with 1 or 2 minute bracteoles around middle to apex; corolla in bud variable in size, 10–20 mm long; ovary and calyx 2–4 mm long, limb 2–4 mm wide with 6–9(–10) lobes, lobes 0.5(–1) mm long, hairs ca 0.1 mm long; petals 6- or 7(–10), 10–18 mm long; stamens 12–20, filaments hairy in the basal third, geniculate with a hairy knob, (in Lertkusol 25) ca 7 mm long, anthers ca 6 mm long, connective glabrous; style glabrous, 8–12 mm long, stigma irregularly subglobose or short club-shaped. Fruits 1–3 per infructescence, often on leafy twigs due to new shoots developing after flowering, ripening purple-black, juicy, subglabrous or sparsely hairy, smooth, not ribbed, subglobose, 1–1.5 cm diam.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (type: Garrett 1075, holotype -K, isotypes -BKF L) (Chiang Mai University, Doi Suthep-Pui NP), Lampang (Ngao), Nakhon Sawan (Tham Phet-Tham Thong Forest Park); NORTH-EASTERN: Maha Sarakham (Ban Tha Rae); SOUTH-WESTERN: Uthai Thani (Huai Kha Khaeng WS), Kanchanaburi (Mahidol University), Prachuap Khiri Khan (Huai Yang Falls); CENTRAL: Nakhon Pathom (Mahidol University), Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-EASTERN: Chon Buri (Si Racha), Chanthaburi (Khao Soi Dao WS).

Distribution : Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, possibly Hainan, not yet recorded for Myanmar.

Ecology : Seasonal hardwood forests, often with bamboo; along roads and rivers, in open places and limestone slopes; limestone, granite, and shale-granite bedrock; from sea level to 400 m alt. Flowering in the dry season, from January–May; fruiting: March–May. Fieldnotes: flowers very fragrant and visited by bees and butterflies; fruits edible, pulp sweet tasting.

Notes: The flower size (length of bud), and hence the length of petals, stamens and style is very variable, most likely also depending on the fertility of the soil and the level of water stress in the dry season.