Dysoxylum sessile
Content
Description
Pachycaul tree to 6 m, unbranched or sparingly fastigiately branched.
Leaves 70 cm– 1 m, imparipinnate, 8–10-jugate, bunched at tips of stout shoots, drying yellowish; petiole 20–35 mm, 4–5 mm diam., flattened or grooved adaxially in sicco, especially towards base, ± yellow-brown strigose, base swollen; rachis 3-4 mm diam., terete, ± densely yellow-brown strigose.
Flowers sessile, hyacinth-scented (Valeton, l.c.).; bracteoles c. 7, orbicular, passing imperceptibly into sepals.
Sepals 5, 2–3 mm long, margin imbricate, adpressed pilose abaxially, membraneous and long-cilate, base somewhat concave; calyx cupular, c. 3 mm long and diam.
Petals 5, c. 14 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, valvate, ± weakly imbricate at apices, fleshy, adpressed strigose without, adnate to staminal tube in proximal quarter.
Staminal tube glabrous, margin ± divided into 10 lobes or erose; anthers 10, c. 1 mm long, narrowly oblong, locellate, glabrous, attached c. 1.5 mm inside tube, subsessile.
Ovary 5-locular, each locule 1-ovulate, with dense strigae 2 mm long adpressed and basifugal; style terete, glabrous; stylehead capitate-truncate.
Capsule c. 4 cm diam., flattened-globose, 5-lobed, densely yellow-ochre, strigose when young, densely short-tomentose, cerebriform in sicco at maturity, the strigae irritant.
Seeds up to 5, c. 1 cm long, plano-convex, ?arillate.
Distribution
Ambon present, Asia-Tropical, Bacan present, Buru present, Ceram present, Morotai present, Obi present, Saparua present
MalesiaN & C Moluccas (Morotai, Bacan, Obi, Buru, Ceram, Ambon, Saparua)
Taxonomy
This remarkable plant, which is still cultivated at Bogor, has, in its pachycaul form, long inflorescences and fruits with irritant hairs, the appearance of a species of Chisocheton sect. Clemensia. Furthermore, the locellate anthers are found otherwise only in that genus in the family. Although it differs in its calyx and anatropous rather than orthotropous seeds, it and sect. Clemensia possibly represent relics of the stock from which these two genera diverged.