Weinmannia descombesiana
Description
Shrub or tree, 2.6-30 m high, up to 30 cm dbh.
Leaves unifoliolate, usually with an articulation between blade and petiole;
Stipules obovate, ligulate or spathulate, c. 0.7 by 0.4 cm.
Inflorescence usually a pair of dyads, sometimes a few successive nodes reproductive;
Flowers bisexual;
Capsule with valves 2-2.5 by 1.2-1.6 mm at dehiscence;
Seeds 0.5-0.6 mm long, c. 8 per capsule, often persisting in capsules after dehiscence, comose at both ends, the hairs to 1.5 mm long, hairs almost ‘sticky’.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical, South and Central Sulawesi present
Malesia: mountains of South and Central Sulawesi.
Taxonomy
Although placed here in sect. Fasciculatae, W. descombesiana was originally referred to sect. Leiospermum (as sect. Racemosae) by Bernardi (1964) as the flowers are arranged singly on the axes of the racemes. Other features characteristic of sect. Leiospermum seen in this species include: branching sometimes dichotomous and stipules ovate-ligulate-spathulate in adult foliage. However, the inflorescence structure is typical of sect. Fasciculatae, and other characters that suggest its affinities include the type of indumentum on the capsules (pubescent not strigose), the calyx lobes in fruit (persistent not caducous), and the absence of ‘collars’, which are remnants of partially fused stipules, around the inflorescence axes.