Endocomia rufirachis

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Endocomia rufirachis

Description

Tree 10-40 m. Leaves membranous to thinly chartaceous, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 18-38 by 6-11 cm, base subcordate, broadly rounded, or short-cuneate, apex acute- acuminate; Inflorescences (with male or mixed male and female (?) flowers) between or behind the leaves, sometimes apical, 3-5 times branched, many-flowered, 8-30 by 5-25 cm, peduncle 1.5-5 cm, with dense rusty hairs 0.5-0.7 mm long, bracts elliptic-oblong, 2-6 mm long, caducous. Flowers usually in rather dense clusters of 5-10, sometimes flowers more dispersed and only 2 or 3 together, all ± in the same stage of development; Fruits 6-18 in large panicles up to 30 cm long, ellipsoid-oblong, 4.5-6.5 by 1.8-2.5 cm, apex narrowly rounded, base subacute or often tapering into a 4-10 mm long narrowed part, glabrous, drying blackish, finely granulate, without lenticels, not warted;

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Borneo present (Sabah present, Sarawak present), E Kalimantan present
Malesia: Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah, E Kalimantan).

Morphology

2 Endocomia rufirachis resembles Horsfieldia motleyi, which has similarly pubescent flowers. Endocomia macrocoma subsp. macrocoma (Moluccas) may have a similar, rather conspicuous yellowish red indumentum, but differs in the one-clustered flowers in various stages of development, the shape of the androecium, and the smaller fruits. 3 In spite of a fairly large number of flowering specimens, only male flowers have been found. Some of the collections have male inflorescences with fruits separately attached to the herbarium sheet; both are apparently collected from one single tree. In the related Endocomia macrocoma, the female flowers are usually scattered in between the more numerous male ones in one inflorescence, or can be found on separate female inflorescences of the same tree. 1 Characterized by the inflorescences in which all the flowers are in about the same stage of development, by the conspicuous rusty indumentum on leaf buds and inflorescences, and by the large fruits.

Citation

W. J. de Wilde 2000 – In: Tree Fl. Sabah & Sarawak: 340