Ancistrocladus tectorius
Ancistrocladus tectorius in Lingnan Sci. J. 6: 329. 1930 ["1928"] sec. Taylor & al. 20051
- =Ancistrocladus cochinchinensis, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 1: 115. 1909 syn. sec. Taylor & al. 20058
- =Ancistrocladus harmandii, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 1: 114. 1909 syn. sec. Taylor & al. 20059
- =Ancistrocladus hainanensis, Icon. Pl. Formosan. 3: 46–47. 1913 syn. sec. Taylor & al. 200510
- =Ancistrocladus carallioides in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1925: 19. 1925 syn. sec. Taylor & al. 200511
Notes
This species circumscription here concords with that of Steenis (1948). Steenis (1948) reported this species additionally from Borneo; we have seen no specimens from there but have no reason to doubt this report. Loureiro's specific epithet apparently refers to the local use of Ancistocladus tectorius in the construction of the roofs of houses. Keng (1967) studied the vegetative and reproductive morphology and anatomy of this species in detail. There is notable variation in Ancistrocladus tectorius in several morphological features, in partic-ular the degree of development of the bracts and the presence and number of abaxial sepal glands. Most plants can readily be assigned to one of two forms, but these two forms are linked by a number of intermediate specimens and thus are not recognized taxonomically here. A number of plants, in-cluding nearly all of those from China through Vietnam and many from Malaysia, Singapore, and Sumatra, resemble A. heyneanus in having one to three well-developed, marginate glands on the outer three sepals, the flowers subsessile or shortly ped-icellate (i.e., pedicels up to 1.5 mm long), and the inflorescence bracts numerous, well developed (0.5-2.4 mm long), abaxially bearing one to three marginate glands, and usually persisting while the fruits mature. These plants resemble the type spec-imens of A. tectorius, A. cochinchinensis, and A. harmandii. Another group of plants found in Malaysia, Sumatra, Singapore, and the Andaman Islands differs in having sepals without abaxial glands, pedicels 1.5-3.0 mm long, and the bracts few, small (0.2-1.0 mm long), usually eglandular, and often caducous at or shortly after anthesis. These plants resemble the type of A. pinangianus. Wallich's specimens included Ancistrocladus material that he treated as his Wallich Numer. List 1052 and called "Ancistrocladus extensus Wallich" though without publishing a validating description or diagnosis for this name. This catalogued species included material from two different collections, Wallich Numer. List 1052.1 from Amherst, a British station in Burma (today Myanmar) that was presum-ably collected by Wallich himself, and Wallich Numer. List 1052.2 from Pundua, a British Station in notheastern India, collected by Wallich's collabo-rator there, Francis da Sylva. These collections are notably different in appearance, but the specimens of Wallich Numer. List 1052.1 comprise hook-bearing branchlets with young to fully mature fruits and several robust vegetative apices while the specimens of Wallich Numer. List 1052.2 comprise hook-bearing branchlets with flowers and a few immature fruits. Thus these collections lack comparable reproductive structures and consequently are difficult to compare. Planchon (1849) concluded that these gatherings did represent two different species, and described Wallich Numer. List 1052.1 as A. extensus Wall, ex Planch, and F. da Sylva in Wallich Numer. List 1052.2 as A. wallichii Planch. Planchon's publication of A. wallichii was apparently not widely noted, however, and specimens of Wallich Numer. List 1052.2 as well as later, sometimes similar collections continued to be identified as "A. extensus Wallich." We here concur with Steenis (1948) and consider A. extensus a taxonomic synonym of A. tectorius. However, we are unable to conclusively determine the identity of A. wallichii, and thus here consider it a name of dubious identity as discussed further below, in that section. Gereau (1997) noted that Z. Katsumada s.n., the type designated in the protologue of Ancistrocladus hainanensis, has not been located at KYO, SING, or TI. No illustration was published with the name, and no other original material has been found. S. K. Lau 455 is a widely distributed flowering collection (duplicates seen at A, BM, E, KYO, MO, P, TI, US) that agrees in all respects with the protologue of A. hainanensis, and the duplicate of this collection at KYO is here selected as the neotype.
Distribution (General)
Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia through Laos to China (Hainan Island) and Vietnam, and south through Malaysia to Singapore, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, and Sumatra and Borneo of Indonesia.
Habitat
Lowland to premontane evergreen but rather dry forests at 0-1524 m, on red basaltic, granitic, or sandy to clay soils.
Description
Juvenile plants unknown. Juvenile leaves unknown. Adult stems climbing to 20 m high, to 1 cm diam. [probably becoming larger but no data], with bark purplish brown, smooth to roughened, bearing some scattered leaves and lateral branchlets to 23 cm long, these each bearing 1 to several hooks and sometimes a terminal cluster of leaves; hooks recurved to spiraling, 6-20 mm diam. Adult leaves drying papyraceous to chartaceous, rather shiny on both surfaces, in life not seen, drying discolorous, brown to dark brown above, paler brown to yellow-brown below; pits dimorphic, small pits frequent on both surfaces, large pits 0.2-0.5 mm diam., circular, occasional on adaxial surfaces; midrib adaxially shallowly sulcate, abaxially prominent, terminating in a tiny gland; secondary veins prominulous on both surfaces; tertiary veins reticulated and prom-inulous on both surfaces; margins plane to thinly revolute; stem leaves with persistence unknown, elliptic to oblong or oblanceolate, sometimes falcate, 5-34 X 1.1-8.3 cm, L/W 2.2-6.8, at apex acute to rounded, at base cuneate to acute; secondary veins (6 to) 13 to 16 pairs, with intramarginal vein not evident; leaves at branchlet apices with persistence unknown, elliptic to obovate, 7.0-38.0(-50.2) X 2.1_9.3(-11.7) cm, L/W (1.7-)2.0-5.6(-6.1), at apex acute to rounded and sometimes abruptly shortly acuminate, at base sometimes long-attenuate; secondary veins 6 to 14(to 22) pairs, with in-tramarginal vein situated 0-2 mm from margin. In-florescence lax to congested, paniculate, lateral among leaves at apices of branchlets, occasionally bearing hooks, without brae teal leaves; peduncle 0.5-2.3 cm long, often flexuous; branched portion corymbiform, 5.5-12.0 X 6-16 cm, dichotomously branched; bracts triangular to ovate, 0.2- -2 .4 X 0.2-1.5 mm, at apex acute and erose, at base ob-tuse, abaxially eglandular or with 1 or 2 circular glands occupying ½-3/4 of surface; pedicels 0.3-3.0 mm long. Flowers all pedicellate; sepals 5, subor-bicular to elliptic-oblong, rounded at apex, at base rounded to truncate and shortly decurrent on ovary, brownish purple, abaxially eglandular or with 1 to 4 raised glands ca. 0.2 mm diam., unequal, larger 3 sepals 4.2-5.5 X 1.8 mm, smaller 2 sepals 3.2- 4.5 X 2.2 mm; petals 5, convolute, suborbicular, cream, pink, green, or white-yellow to dark red, 5.0-6.0 X 2.0-3.0 mm; stamens 10 in 1 whorl, purple; filaments thickened at base, dimorphic, the shorter 0.3-1.2 mm long, the longer 1.1-2.0 mm long; anthers 0.4-0.8 mm long; ovary fully inferior, 1-3 mm long; styles 3, ca. 1 mm long, stigmas ca. 0.2 mm long. Fruit turbinate; nut 5-9 X 5-10 mm, on sides 5-ridged by decurrent margins of accrescent sepals; persistent sepals spreading, chartaceous to papyraceous, unequal, larger 3 sepals spathulate, 30-56 X 10-17(-25) mm long, smaller 2 sepals narrowly oblong to spathulate, 20-30(- 40) X 5- 12(-19) mm; pericarp drying golden rust-brown, coriaceous; seed pale yellow, not seen.