Myristica subalulata
Content
Description
Tree 3-10(-25) m.
Leaves membranous, chartaceous or (sub)-coriaceous, elliptic(-oblong), 15-40 by 5—13(—16) cm, base cuneate or (narrowly) rounded, sometimes shallowly cordate, apex acute-acuminate;
Inflorescences between the leaves or rarely below, of the Knema-type: a sessile or to 4 mm pedunculate (or 5-20 mm in var. pedunculata), woody, wart- or worm-like, scar-covered brachyblast, 10(-20) by 5 mm, sometimes 2- or 3-armed, pubescent or glabrescent, ending in few- or many-flowered subumbels (in male to 20-flowered, in female 1-3-flowered), the buds either ± equal in size or of various sizes;
Fruits solitary or in clusters of up to 6, subglobose, ellipsoid or broadly ovoid, 1.5-2 (-2.5) by 1-1.5 cm, narrowed to the apex, with the style-remnant remaining as a short apiculum, (fruits 1-3 per cluster, 2.5-3 cm long, with pedicel to 10 mm long in var. paucifructa), hairs persistent, mealy, rusty, 0.1-0.3(-0.4) mm, rarely glabrescent, sometimes lenticels in the basal part;
Distribution
Aru present, Asia-Tropical: Bismarck Archipelago (Bismarck Archipelago absent); Maluku (Maluku present); New Guinea present, Kai Islands present, Misool present
Malesia: Moluccas (Aru and Kai Islands), throughout New Guinea (incl. Misool; excl. Bismarck Archipelago). There are five varieties.
Morphology
Widely distributed, with a large altitudinal range, characterized by the (sub)-alulate twigs mostly with ant-swellings. Much of the variation, e.g. in the leaf texture, presence or absence of papillation on the lower leaf surface, stoutness, and length of flower pedicel, seems gradual, and the subdivision of this species into varieties is arbitrary.