Guioa acutifolia

Primary tabs

Guioa acutifolia

Description

(Shrub to) tree, 2.5-25 m high, dbh 10-45 cm, spindly; Branchlets glabrous (to sparsely sericeous when young); Leaves l-3(-6)-ju-gate; Inflorescences axillary (to pseudoterminal), unbranched to branching basally and along the terete, usually sericeous, 0.4-16.8 cm long axis; Flowers 1.5-2.5 mm in diam., sweet scented. Sepals 5 (or 6), broadly ovate to orbicular, margin pilose, with glands, (outside sericeous), inside glabrous; Petals 5, (rhombic to) obovate, 0.3-1.8 by 0.2-0.8 mm, white to tinged pinkish; Stamens 8; Fruits with 1 or 2 (or 3) well developed lobes, 0.5-1.2 by 0.8-2 cm, smooth to ru-gose-ruminate, glabrous, red when fresh, blackish when dry; Seeds obovoid, 4-8 by 3-5 mm;

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Maluku (Maluku present); New Guinea (Irian Jaya present), Central Prov present, Cook present, Geelvinck Bay present, N Kennedy present, N Queensland present, NE Australia present, Papua New Guinea present, Southern Highlands present, Vogelkop present, Western present, Wide Bay District present
Malesia: Moluccas, Irian Jaya (Vogelkop, Geelvinck Bay), Papua New Guinea (Western, Southern Highlands, Central Prov.); NE Australia: N Queensland (Cook, N Kennedy and Wide Bay District).

Notes

1. Tracey (1982) records lowland and highland forms of G. acutifolia, but he did not explain by what criteria these forms can be recognized. Note, however, that a specimen of G. come-sperma (Webb & Tracey 13251) was included in G. acutifolia.
Specimens found near salty water (along creeks, beaches, or on small islands) are sclero-phyllous with a thick waxy layer on the upper surface. The same phenomenon can be observed in specimens of G. bijuga from poor, sandy soil in Borneo.
Beccari Fl 2810 is exceptional as the leaf lets sometimes have a small subapical tooth, like G. oligotricha, and instead of a single sac several pockets are present. This specimen may belong to a new species, but as there is no other similar material, it is still included in G. acutifolia.
Several specimens in New Guinea possess very long leaflet apices, which make them look different from the more typical specimens of G. acutifolia.

Citation

Radlk. 1933 – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: 1159
C.T. White 1933 – In: Contr. Arnold Arbor.: 60
Welzen 1989: p. 172. – In: Leiden Bot. Series: f. 62, 63
Radlk. 1879 – In: Sitzungsber. Math.-Phys. CI. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. München: 608
S.T. Reynolds 1984 – In: Austrobaileya: 53
Radlk. 1985: p. 48. – In: Fl. Austral.: f. lld-f, map 58
Radlk. 1921 – In: Bot. Jahrb.: 278