Illigera megaptera

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Illigera megaptera

Description

Leaves: petiole 6-10.5 cm; petiolules 0.7-2.5 cm, glabrous or sparsely set with short hairs; leaflets chartaceous or coriaceous, ovate or oblong, 8-18 by 5.5-11 cm, acumen up to 1 cm long, base cordate or rounded, upper surface shiny or dull, lower surface dull, glabrous on both surfaces or lower midrib somewhat hairy towards the base, nerves 4 or 5 pairs, at angles of 60-80° with the midrib; domatia present or absent. Flower buds ellipsoid, c. 6 by 4 mm. Fruits with 2 wings and 2 ridges; nut 3-4 cm long, wings Ungulate, 3.5-6 cm long.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Borneo (Sabah present), Luzon present, Mindanao present, Mindoro present, Samar present
Malesia: Borneo (Sabah), Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Samar, Mindanao).

Notes

Apparently a rare species and seldom collected in flower. Merrill (1914) described fruits only. I have seen only two collections with flowers: Ridsdale 1171 (immature flowers, Mindoro) and Nordin Abas SAN 85879 (Sabah). Kubitzki (1969) regarded the presence or absence of domatia taxonomically an important character; I found that they are mostly absent in I. megaptera from the Philippines, but in the Sabah material they are present. Illigera megaptera resembles I. luzonensis, the latter differs e.g. by shorter leaflets and shorter fruit wings (hemi-orbicular or sublingulate). Doubtful specimens are Clemens 26185 and 51587, both from Mt Kinabalu, with flowers only. Their resemblance in habit with I. megaptera is evident, so I named them provisionally under that species, although fruits are unknown. Their provenance, from an exceptionally high altitude, c. 1700 m, urged Kubitzki (1969) to place these two Clemens specimens under I. khasiana Clarke, a species from mountainous continental SE Asia. To me this seems unlikely, and more complete material from Mt Kinabalu is needed for a final decision.

Citation

Merr. 1923 – In: Enum. Philipp. Flow. pl.: 206
Kubitzki 1969 – In: Bot. Jahrb.: 170.