Aglaia variisquama

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Aglaia variisquama

Description

Tree up to 20 m, with few branches and a small, compact crown. Outer bark smooth, green, brown, reddish-grey or black; inner bark pale yellow or red; cambium white, sapwood pale yellow. Leaves imparipinnate, up to 79 cm long and 58 cm wide; petiole 7–15 cm, petiole, rachis and petiolules densely covered with scales like those on the twigs. Inflorescence up to 32 cm long and 22 cm wide, in the axils of c. 3 leaves near the apex of the shoot; peduncle 1.5–10 cm, the peduncle, rachis and branches densely covered with scales like those on the twigs. Petals 5. Petals 6, thick and fleshy, with few orange-brown or pale orange-brown peltate scales which have a fimbriate margin and a dark central spot on the outer surface. Staminal tube c. 1.2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, depressed globose, the aperture c. 0.5 mm in diam.; anthers 5, inserted about half way up the staminal tube and just protruding through the aperture, with a few simple hairs at the base and apex of each anther and on the inner surface of the staminal tube, the staminal tube with longitudinal, thickened ribs, one below each anther and one between each pair of adjacent anthers. Staminal tube c. 1.8 mm long, 1.7–2 mm wide with a few pale brown stellate scales on the outer surface, the aperture 0.5 mm in diam.; otherwise like the male. Fruits c. 4 cm long and wide, subglobose, sometimes with a small beak, yellowish-brown, in- dehiscent, densely covered with pale orange-brown peltate scales on the outer surface; latex white. Seed 1, with a fleshy translucent aril; testa dark brown.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia present)
Malesia: Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo.

Taxonomy

Aglaia variisquama resembles A. squamulosa but the twigs are stouter, the leaves more coriaceous and the scales darker and not densely covering the lower leaflet surface. The evenly distributed dark orange-brown scales with paler scales interspersed is similar to the indumentum on the lower surfaces of the leaflets of A. rimosa.