Meliosma pinnata subsp. ridleyi
Content
Description
Shrub or tree, up to c. 20 m.
Leaves 3-7-jugate;
Sepals and outer petals glabrous.
Panicles erect, usually rather lax and slender;
Ovary densely pubescent.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Borneo present (Sabah present, Sarawak present); Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia present); Philippines (Philippines present); Sumatera (Sumatera present), Mindoro present, W. Kutai present
Malesia: Central Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah, W. Kutai), Philippines (Mindoro). .
Notes
subsp. ridleyi is rather variable when compared to the other subspecies of M. pinnata, especially in number and dentation of leaflets, in the degree of pubescence, and in shape and size of the endocarps. In the Malay Peninsula, for instance, a form with few subglabrous and somewhat dentate leaflets has been found ('M. elegans'), as well as a beautiful, densely rufous-pubescent form with distinctly more and entire leaflets ('M. ridleyi'). It is not astonishing that such different plants have been described as separate species; only by studying material from Borneo it becomes clear that these extremes are connected by a range of transitions. Another form from Dallas (Kinabalu), which has rather condensed panicles, has been described as M. confertiflora. This again is merely a local form without any systematical significance, as is M. paucinerviat with very lax panicles, from Mindanao. Yet, in spite of this variation, it is obvious that subsp. ridleyi is a natural unit, probably most closely related to the adjacent subsp. arnottiana from which it differs least of all subspecies, mainly in shape and size of the endocarps, but also in some less important characters; an especially close resemblance has been observed between subsp. ridleyi and some deviating specimens from South Vietnam which have been tentatively included in subsp. arnottiana. Furthermore, the area of subsp. ridleyi borders on or somewhat overlaps the areas of subsp. ferruginea and macrophylla. The relation between subsp. ridleyi and these subspecies has been discussed under subsp. macrophylla.
Finally, it should be noted that the area of subsp. ridleyi fully overlaps that of M. sarawakensis; this is not accidental, since the latter probably is a derivative of subsp. ridleyi (see the note under M. sarawakensis).
Finally, it should be noted that the area of subsp. ridleyi fully overlaps that of M. sarawakensis; this is not accidental, since the latter probably is a derivative of subsp. ridleyi (see the note under M. sarawakensis).