Myristica simiarum
Content
Description
Tree 5-36 m.
Leaves membranous or thinly chartaceous, very brittle, ovate-elliptic or oblong(-lanceolate), 11—18(—32) by 3-7(-12) cm, base acute or nearly rounded, apex acute-acuminate;
Inflorescences pedunculate, between the leaves (rarely ± below), late glabrescent, hairs scattered, 0.5(-l) mm;
Fruits (variable according to the subspecies), solitary or 2 or 3 per infructescence, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2-4 by 2-3 cm, apex rounded or shortly beaked, base rounded or shortly contracted, glabrescent or thinly pubescent, hairs inconspicuous, grey-brown, silky, (0.3-)0.5 mm;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; Maluku (Maluku present); Philippines (Philippines present); Sulawesi (Sulawesi present), Bacan present, Sula Is present, W & NE Kalimantan present, W Sarawak present
Malesia: Borneo (W & NE Kalimantan, W Sarawak), Philippines, Sulawesi, Moluccas (Bacan, Sula Is.).
Taxonomy
A variable species in which, according to the area of distribution and based on rather weak differences in the fruits, three subspecies are recognized. Further variation is noteworthy in subsp. simiarum and briefly discussed there. Sinclair (1968) included the species in the related M. elliptica, but M. simiarum differs in its inflorescences and its smaller fruits. Both species have the markedly triangular upper part of the buds in common. Myristica elliptica, the swamp nutmeg, is a species mostly from marshy forest, frequently with stilt-roots which have never been recorded for M. simiarum.