Knema

Content

Description

Trees, dioecious; Leaves not breaking easily when dry (veins with sclerenchym sheaths), lower surface pale, not papillose, dots present or absent; Inflorescences rarely supra-axillary; a sessile or to 5 (-10) mm long pedunculate, simple or 2- (or 4-)fid, wart-like or worm-like densely scar-covered brachyblast, 1-17 mm long, with a slow unlimited growth; Flowers pedicellate, not fragrant, bracteole minute, often at a distance below the perianth, usually persistent. Fruits ± ellipsoid, 2-5 cm long, tomentose or early glabrescent (never glabrous as in some species of Horsfieldia and Myristica); Seeds ellipsoid, not variegated;

Distribution

Asia-Temperate: China South-Central (Yunnan present), Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; Maluku (Maluku present), Bird's Head Peninsula present, Deccan Peninsula present, East to the Philippines present, S China present, Western New Guinea present, continental Southeast Asia present

About 93 species in continental Southeast Asia and Malesia, from theDeccan Peninsula (K. attenuata) to S China (Yunnan) and East to the Philippines, Moluccas, and western New Guinea (K. tomentella in Bird's Head Peninsula); in Malesia 75 species, the majority occurring in Borneo.
(see p. 4).

Taxonomy

2 Besides a general key to the species (1), mainly based on male flowering specimens, four separate regional keys are given, based on female flowering and/or fruiting specimens and with emphasis on vegetative characters. These keys cover the following areas: (2) Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, (3) Sumatra, Java, (4) Borneo, (5) Philippines, Sulawesi, Moluccas, Lesser Sunda Islands, and New Guinea (Bird's Head). 1 De Wilde (1979) distinguished in the genus Knema 12 series for 83 species accepted at that time. This division into series has been based mainly on characters regarding the general shape of male buds, androecium and position of the anthers, and the shape of the stigma lobes, with in addition characters derived from the indumentum and the nature of the bark of the twigs. The series, which were fully described and discussed, at most represent possibly natural groupings of species, presumably close to each other. However, more ample recent material and newly described species rendered the formal distinction of the series more and more doubtful, and so, in the present Flora Malesiana treatment, the author refrained from any formal subdivision. The series are here indicated only in the general key to the species (Key 1), from which the main set of characters can be inferred, and for details the reader is referred to the literature mentioned above. Sinclair (1958,1961) proposed a subdivision into groups mainly based on female flower characters. This subdivision is for the most part not in accordance with the series distinguished by De Wilde and cannot be used satisfactorily either.

Citation

J. Sinclair 1961 – In: Gard. Bull. Sing.: 102

A. DC 1856 – In: Prodr.: 204

W. J. de Wilde 1981 – In: Blumea: 223

W. J. de Wilde 1979 – In: Blumea: 321

Lour. 2000 – In: Tree FI. Sabah & Sarawak: 399

King 1891 – In: Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Cale.: 284

J. Sinclair 1958 – In: Gard. Bull. Sing.: 254

Warb. 1897: Mon. Myrist.: 132, 543

W. J. de Wilde 1987 – In: Blumea: 115