Diospyros apiculata Hiern

Meeprom, Nattanon, Duangjai, Sutee, Utteridge, Timothy M. A., Culham, Alastair & Puglisi, Carmen, 2024, Notes on South-East Asian Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae, Ericales): commonly misidentified species in mainland South-East Asia, European Journal of Taxonomy 932, pp. 225-251 : 228-231

Diospyros apiculata Hiern

Figs 1A–B , 2

Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 12: 186 ( Hiern 1873).

– Type: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA • Penang, Govt. Hill [Government Hill or later known as Penang Hill ]; s.d. (distributed to K in 1871); Maingay s.n. [Kew Distrib. no. 1514]; lectotype: K [ K000792352 ]!, designated by De Kok & Puglisi (2021) .

Ridley (1923: 285); Bakhuizen van den Brink (1937: 170; 1955: pl. 1, fig. I); Fletcher (1938: 364); Ng (1977: 212; 1978: 61); Phengklai (1978: 86, pro parte; 1981: 376, pro parte); Gardner et al. (2015: 487, 687, pro parte).

Description

Small tree, ca 2 m tall. Young twigs densely hairy with long ferruginous hairs. Bark dark grey, tuberculate, inner bark reddish brown, sapwood creamy white. Leaves ovate-oblong, obovate-lanceolate to obovateoblong, 9–15 × 3–6 cm, base cordate, subcordate or rounded, apex caudate, 1–1.5 cm long, blade densely to sparsely hairy on both sides, more densely hairy on the veins, hairs filiform and straight or slightly curved, soft, 1–1.5 mm long; lateral veins 10–13 on each side, arched and anastomosing near the margin, tertiary veins conspicuously scalariform; petiole short, 2–3 mm long, covered by ferruginous hairs; glands inconspicuous. Male inflorescences axillary, subsessile, solitary to few-flowered, usually 3-flowered. Calyx campanulate in outline, hairy on both sides, glabrous inside near the base, margin entire, ciliate; lobes 4, rarely 5, divided to the base, lanceolate, 4–6 mm long, not spreading. Corolla creamy white, tubular when closed, salverform when opened, 0.8–1 cm long, glabrous on both sides; lobes 4, divided about halfway to the base, ovate or ovate-oblong, 3–5 mm long, sinistrorsely contorted, spreading when opened, apex obtuse or acute. Stamens 6–12, unequal in length, glabrous; anthers linear-oblong, apex cuspidate; filaments often geniculate, dilated and connate at base and inserted at the base of the corolla tube (the stamen characteristics obtained from Hiern, 1873). Rudimentary ovary small, hairy. Bracteoles lanceolate to ovate, 2–3 × 1 mm, hairy. Female inflorescences axillary, 1–3-flowered cyme, hairy. Female flowers similar to male flowers but with broader calyx lobes (elliptic-oblong). Fruits solitary, ovoid-conical, ca 2.5 × 1.3–1.7 cm, base rounded, apex apiculate, subsessile, subglabrous but hairy near the tip with yellowish hairs, 4-locular. Fruiting calyx slightly accrescent, hairy on both sides, glabrous near the base of each lobe; lobes 4, rarely 5, divided to the base, linear-oblong, 6 mm long, spreading, apex acuminate, margin flat. Seeds 4, ellipsoid in outline, concave, ca 1.5 cm long; endosperm smooth.

Distribution

THAILAND • Satun [Kerr 14457 ( K)], Yala [Pooma 4420 ( BKF), 5077 ( BKF), Satthaphorn 94 ( PSU)]. Gardner et al. (2015) also listed D. apiculata in Krabi and Trang Provinces: two associated collections from Krabi [Sidisunthorn ST1200 ( BKF)] and Trang [Gardner ST2465 ( K, BKF) ] that might belong to D. apiculata but they could not be confidently verified due to a lack of mature reproductive characters and were therefore excluded from the occurrence map.

PENINSULAR MALAYSIA • Johor [Corner SFN29359 ( K, SING), Sinclair 10600 ( SING)], Kelantan [Abu Baker 10596 ( KEP)], Malacca [Alvins s.n. ( SING)], Negeri Sembilan [Alvin 2077 ( SING), LaFrankie 2728 ( KEP), 3024 ( KEP)], Pahang [Chew T1073e ( KEP), Chua FRI40630 ( K, KEP), Henderson 22296 ( SING)], Penang [Curtis 1584 ( K, SING), Maingay s.n. [Kew Distrib. no. 1514 ] ( K)], Perak [King’s Collector 5727 ( SING), 6770 ( SING)], Selangor [Ali KEP51954 ( KEP), Asnah FRI35593 ( SING), Sow KEP52256 ( KEP)], Terengganu [Cockburn FRI10714 ( K), Corner SFN30368 ( SING), Sinclair SFN39953 ( K), Whitmore FRI20303 ( K, KEP, L, SING)] .

Ecology

Diospyros apiculata is found in lowland rain forest, up to 750 m elevation ( Fig. 2 ), in the bioregion south of the Isthmus of Kra ( Parnell 2013).

Notes

Singh (2005) listed D. apiculata in India but he noted that this species in India differs from the type by having a hairy corolla. We could not verify whether Singh’s material matches with the typical D. apiculata .

Gardner et al. (2015) illustrated the typical form of D. apiculata from Southern Thailand, showing the scalariform venation, glabrous corolla (outside), and lanceolate calyx lobes of a male flower.

Figures

Fig. 1. A–B. Diospyros apiculata Hiern. A. Lower surface of leaf (Curtis 1584 K[K001345613]). B. Male flower (Maingay s.n. [Kew Distrib. no. 1514] K[K000792352]). C–D. D. eriantha Champ. ex Benth. var. eriantha. C. Lower surface of leaf (Champion 133 K[K000792287]). D. Female flower (Champion s.n. K[K000792289]). E–F. D. strigosa Hemsl. E. Lower surface of leaf (Collins 506 K[K001361689]). F. Female flower. G–H. D. tamiriensis Lecomte. G. Lower surface of leaf. H. Female flower (Pierre 5029 K[K001361754]). Photographed by N. Meeprom and S. Duangjai.

Fig. 2. Occurrence map of D. apiculata Hiern (O), D. strigosa Hemsl. (Z) and D. tamiriensis Lecomte (A).