Myristica depressa
Content
Description
Tree 10-30(- 40) m.
Leaves membranous or thinly chartaceous, oblong(-lanceolate), 15-30 by 4-9 cm, base short-cuneate or rounded, apex acute-acuminate;
Inflorescences between the lower leaves, pedunculate, slender, hairs woolly, 0.1-0.3 mm;
Fruits ellipsoid (-oblong), 5-7 by 3-4.5 cm, apex and base broadly rounded, hairs dense, scurfy, 0.1 (-0.2) mm;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia present); Sumatera (Sumatera present), C Kalimantan present
Malesia: Sumatra (one collection, Indragiri, and one deviating specimen, see note 2), Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo (C Kalimantan).
Taxonomy
1 Myristica depressa is close to M. borneensis, M. malaccensis, and M. wyatt-smithii, but differs in its persistent indumentum on the lower leaf surface. The androecium is distinctly short and broad, resembling that of M. borneensis and especially that of M. malaccensis in which the sterile apex also is absent. Fruits and male flowers of M. ma-laccensis are glabrous (early glabrescent), the latter cleft to only 1/3. Myristica borneensis has fruits similar to those of the present species, but differs in lacking a dense indumentum on the lower leaf surface, the male flowers which are cleft to only about halfway, and the androecium with a short and broad sterile apex. Other apparently related species are M. agusanensis and M. guatteriifolia, both with a persistent indumentum on the lower leaf surface, and both with an androecium sometimes hollowed at the apex.
2 The specimen Kostermans s.n. (Sumatra, Palembang) has leaves that dry more brownish above, the lateral nerves are indistinct, and the blade base is conspicuously acute-attenuate; the (almost mature) fruit is only 4.5 cm long when dry. The specimen may represent a separate taxon.