Meliosma pinnata subsp. macrophylla
Content
Description
Medium-sized to large tree, up to c. 42 m.
Leaves (3-)5-9-jugate;
Sepals and petals glabrous.
Panicles erect and spreading, lax and slender to rather dense;
Ovary glabrous, rarely with a few scattered hairs.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Maluku (Maluku present); New Guinea present; Philippines (Philippines present); Sulawesi (Sulawesi present), Berao present, E. Borneo present, E. Sandakan present, Halmahera present, Leyte present, Luzon present, Malili present, Minahasa present, Mindanao present, New Britain present, Palawan present, Seram present, Tandjung present, W. & E. Kutai present
Malesia: E. Borneo (E. Sandakan, Berao, W. & E. Kutai, Tandjung), Sulawesi (Minahasa, Malili), Moluccas (Halmahera, Seram), Philippines (Luzon, Leyte, Mindanao, Palawan), throughout New Guinea (incl. New Britain). Fairly common in most parts of the area. .
Notes
subsp. macrophylla is the most common and widespread of the East Malesian subspecies group, characterized by a glabrous ovary by which it is readily distinguished from the West Malesian subspecies. Within its large area a few other subspecies occur, viz. subsp. pendula, sylvatica, and humilis, which have much more limited areas and probably represent off splits from it. These three subspecies are ecologically well isolated from subsp. macrophylla.
In Borneo the area of subsp. macrophylla is, as far as can be judged from the available evidence, sharply delimited against that of the West Malesian subsp. rid ley i, which, moreover, appears to prefer a higher altitudinal zone (only in Borneo subsp. macrophylla seems to be restricted to lowland forests below c. 100 m altitude!). To the SW the area of subsp. macrophylla borders on that of subsp. ferruginea which inhabits the Lesser Sunda Islands. The latter two subspecies are huge trees, very similar in general habit, and sometimes they have been confused. Nevertheless, they are usually well distinct, mainly by flower characters, though in both subspecies there is a tendency to lose some of these characters.
In the Philippines subsp. macrophylla is sympatric with subsp. arnottiana, but they prefer different altitudinal zones, the first being a lowland subspecies not exceeding c. 900 m altitude, the latter being a montane subspecies occurring from c. 800 up to c. 2400 m (once recorded from c. 600 m).
In Borneo the area of subsp. macrophylla is, as far as can be judged from the available evidence, sharply delimited against that of the West Malesian subsp. rid ley i, which, moreover, appears to prefer a higher altitudinal zone (only in Borneo subsp. macrophylla seems to be restricted to lowland forests below c. 100 m altitude!). To the SW the area of subsp. macrophylla borders on that of subsp. ferruginea which inhabits the Lesser Sunda Islands. The latter two subspecies are huge trees, very similar in general habit, and sometimes they have been confused. Nevertheless, they are usually well distinct, mainly by flower characters, though in both subspecies there is a tendency to lose some of these characters.
In the Philippines subsp. macrophylla is sympatric with subsp. arnottiana, but they prefer different altitudinal zones, the first being a lowland subspecies not exceeding c. 900 m altitude, the latter being a montane subspecies occurring from c. 800 up to c. 2400 m (once recorded from c. 600 m).