Hernandia nymphaeifolia
Content
Description
Shrub or tree 5-22 m high, dbh up to 90 cm (in Fiji up to 200 cm, A.C. Smith 1981).
Leaves: petiole 5-17 cm long, peltately attached 0.5-3 cm from the margin; blade chartaceous or thinly coriaceous, shining above, dull beneath, narrowly or broadly ovate, or subcircular, 7-33 by 6-29 cm, apex acute or slightly acuminate, glabrous on both surfaces, nerves 5-9, palmate, conspicuously white or yellow, the central nerve with 2-4 lateral nerves per side, arching towards apex, domatia absent.
Inflorescence including the 6-20 cm long peduncle 10-30 cm long; involucre bracts elliptic to obovate, 2-6 by 1-3.5 mm.
Flowers 3-merous (male) or 4-merous (female), greenish or white, fragrant.
Distribution
Andaman & Nicobar Islands present, Asia-Temperate: Taiwan (Taiwan present), Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; Cambodia (Cambodia present); Jawa (Jawa present); Lesser Sunda Is. present; Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia present); Maluku (Maluku present); New Guinea present; Philippines (Philippines present); Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka present); Sulawesi (Sulawesi present); Sumatera (Sumatera present); Thailand (Thailand present); Vietnam (Vietnam present), E Africa present, Indian Ocean present, Madagascar present, Melanesia present, Polynesia present, northward to Ryukyu & Bonin Islands present
E Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Micronesia (northward to Ryukyu & Bonin Islands), Melanesia, Polynesia; in Malesia: Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), Lesser Sunda Islands, Philippines, Celebes, Moluccas, New Guinea.
Notes
The wood is soft and light in weight and of little use as timber; in some parts of the Pacific it is used for making canoes.
According to Kubitzki (1969) the species seems to hybridize with H. ovigera.
Citation
Croft 1981: p. 193. – In: Handb. Fl. Papua New Guinea: f. 43
Corner 1988: p. 363. – In: Wayside Trees: f. 120
Kubitzki 1969 – In: Bot. Jahrb.: 153.
Koord. & Valeton 1913 – In: Atlas: f. 184
Backer & Bakh.f 1964: p. 137. – In: Fl. Java: excl. syn. H. javanica Tuyama
A.C. Sm. 1981: p. 110. – In: Fl. Vit. Nov.: f. 39
Du Puy & Telford 1993 – In: Fl. Austral.: 71.
Ng 1973: p. 245. – In: Tree Fl. Malaya: f. 2