Horsfieldia sterilis
Content
Description
Tree or shrub, 3-12 m.
Leaves membranous, elliptic-oblong to oblong(-lanceolate), 13-37 by 4.5-11 cm, base attenuate, apex acute-acuminate;
Inflorescences subglabrescent, hairs ± sparse, 0.1-0.2 mm long;
Fruits (immature) 4-10 per spike-like infructescence, ellipsoid, 2.2 by 1.8 cm, glabrous, drying blackish, not tubercled;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Borneo present, C & NE Kalimantan present, C & SE Sabah present
Malesia: Borneo (C & NE Kalimantan andC & SE Sabah).
Taxonomy
Horsfieldia sterilis is noticeable by its 2-lobed perianth and the subconical broadly obovoid androecium of which only the apical half bears apparently reduced anthers; the basal part of the androecium or androphore is sterile, broad and tapering.
The structure of the androecium is reminiscent of that of species as H. crux-melitensis and H. clavata from New Guinea, but in these species the androecium is much more elongate. In general habit H. sterilis resembles, e.g., H. pallidicaula or H. sucosa, because of its pale twigs and blackish drying leaves, but H. sterilis differs in more elongate inflorescences.
The structure of the androecium is reminiscent of that of species as H. crux-melitensis and H. clavata from New Guinea, but in these species the androecium is much more elongate. In general habit H. sterilis resembles, e.g., H. pallidicaula or H. sucosa, because of its pale twigs and blackish drying leaves, but H. sterilis differs in more elongate inflorescences.