Osmoxylon umbelliferum
Content
Description
Leaves clustered at the ends of the branches, glabrous;
Flowers in large spreading umbels, the radiating branches tripartite, c. 30 cm long, each ending in a capitulum.
Distribution
Ambon present, Asia-Tropical: Maluku (Maluku present), Ceram present, Sula Islands present
Malesia: Moluccas. Infrequent on Ambon, but said to be more numerous in Ceram and the Sula Islands. Only known from Rumphius' excellent plate and description; not yet recollected in Ambon.
Notes
Valued for the perfume of its wood and foliage.
Since this plant is known only from a description and a figure, some uncertainties remain as to its specific characters. In the description it is stated that the young leaves possess a few small teeth of which some signs remain on the older leaves. It is not clear whether the teeth are best developed on distinctive juvenile foliage, or whether the newly expanded normal foliage is intended. The leaves in the figure have prominent teeth, but as they are not shown associated with the inflorescence, they may be from a juvenile shoot. The description of the size of the flower buds is confusing, and it seems likely that sterile pseudo-fruits were mistaken for flower buds. Nevertheless, most characters of the plant are adequately portrayed and there can be no doubt that this species is distinct from the other simple-leaved species with a single, collar-like, petiolar crest.
Since this plant is known only from a description and a figure, some uncertainties remain as to its specific characters. In the description it is stated that the young leaves possess a few small teeth of which some signs remain on the older leaves. It is not clear whether the teeth are best developed on distinctive juvenile foliage, or whether the newly expanded normal foliage is intended. The leaves in the figure have prominent teeth, but as they are not shown associated with the inflorescence, they may be from a juvenile shoot. The description of the size of the flower buds is confusing, and it seems likely that sterile pseudo-fruits were mistaken for flower buds. Nevertheless, most characters of the plant are adequately portrayed and there can be no doubt that this species is distinct from the other simple-leaved species with a single, collar-like, petiolar crest.