Osmoxylon luzoniense
Content
Description
Erect, unbranched or sparsely branched shrub or tree to 8 m, becoming glabrous except for the inflorescence.
Leaves clustered at the ends of the branches;
Inflorescence a terminal compound, subsessile umbel 10-15 cm ø;
Stamens 4-5, exserted, filament stout, 5 mm, anther 1 mm long.
Ovary 4-5-celled.
Fruit 6 by 5 mm (dry), strongly 4-5-ribbed.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Philippines (Philippines present), Luzon present, Mindanao present, N. Celebes present
Malesia: widespread in the Philippines (Luzon to Mindanao), also in N. Celebes.
Notes
Inflorescence yellow to red (salmon), fruits blue-black or purple.
Merrill did not liken his Boerlagiodendron diversifolium (from Mindanao) to this species, no doubt because he gave importance to the occurrence of variable leaves and the 5-merous flowers. However, specimens from Luzon may possess simple leaves below the umbel, and both 4- and 5-merous flowers occur in both Luzon and Mindanao. The greater range of material now available establishes the identity of the two species. Similarly, no features seem to distinguish Boerlagiodendron clementis, and B. agusanense though a greater range of collections would be desirable.
The species is treated here in a broad sense. The inflorescence characters of most specimens are uniform, being hirsute and with the bracts at the apex of the primary rays obtuse and short. Some specimens (Curran 5088, Elmer 16762) have longer lanceolate bracts with some bristles on the back. The northernmost specimen, from Ilocos Norte, has finer and less hairy inflorescence rays (recalling 39. O. trilobatum), but the foliage agrees with this species. Leaf-shape is more variable, even on the same specimen. Other species which resemble O. luzoniense in some respects are: 32. O. camiguinense with broader, shallower lobing, a more delicate inflorescence, and tri-merous flowers; 27. O. pectinatum with glabrous inflorescence branches and long-pectinate petiolar crests; and 26. O. humile with pedicelled flowers forming less dense heads.
A specimen from Surigao Province (BS 83562) has a most interesting abnormal structure. The central branches of the inflorescence rays bear heads of apparently fertile flowers, with lobed corollas and exserted stamens.
Merrill did not liken his Boerlagiodendron diversifolium (from Mindanao) to this species, no doubt because he gave importance to the occurrence of variable leaves and the 5-merous flowers. However, specimens from Luzon may possess simple leaves below the umbel, and both 4- and 5-merous flowers occur in both Luzon and Mindanao. The greater range of material now available establishes the identity of the two species. Similarly, no features seem to distinguish Boerlagiodendron clementis, and B. agusanense though a greater range of collections would be desirable.
The species is treated here in a broad sense. The inflorescence characters of most specimens are uniform, being hirsute and with the bracts at the apex of the primary rays obtuse and short. Some specimens (Curran 5088, Elmer 16762) have longer lanceolate bracts with some bristles on the back. The northernmost specimen, from Ilocos Norte, has finer and less hairy inflorescence rays (recalling 39. O. trilobatum), but the foliage agrees with this species. Leaf-shape is more variable, even on the same specimen. Other species which resemble O. luzoniense in some respects are: 32. O. camiguinense with broader, shallower lobing, a more delicate inflorescence, and tri-merous flowers; 27. O. pectinatum with glabrous inflorescence branches and long-pectinate petiolar crests; and 26. O. humile with pedicelled flowers forming less dense heads.
A specimen from Surigao Province (BS 83562) has a most interesting abnormal structure. The central branches of the inflorescence rays bear heads of apparently fertile flowers, with lobed corollas and exserted stamens.