2.

Fig. 3

Miliusa horsfieldii (Benn.) Pierre, Fl. Forest. Cochinch. 3: t. 38 (1881); P. T. Li & M. G. Gilbert in Fl. China 19: 680 (2011); Fl. Thailand 16 (1): 177 (2022). – Saccopetalum horsfieldii Benn., Pl. Jav. Rar. (2): 165, t. 35 (1840). Type: Indonesia. Java, Prov. Banyumas, 1814, T. Horsfield s. n. (lectotype: BM! [BM 000554019], designated by Jessup (1988); isolectotype: BM! [BM 000554017]).

Miliusa prolifica (Chun & F. C. How) P. T. Li, Guihaia 13 (4): 315 (1993); P. T. Li & Z. K. Li in High. Pl. China 3: 167, t. 257 (2000). – Alphonsea prolifica Chun & F. C. How, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 7: 1, t. 1 (1958). – Saccopetalum prolificum (Chun & F. C. How) Y. Tsiang in Acta Phytotax. Sin. 9: 380, pl. 37 (2) (1964); Y. Tsiang et P. T. Li in Fl. Hainan 1: 254 (1964); P. T. Li in Icon. Cormophyt. Sin. 1: 811, t. 1622 (1972); Y. Tsiang & P. T. Li in Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 30 (2): 43, t. 17 (1979). Type: China. Hainan: Yai Hsien, Lofung, 5 Jul 1933, F. C. How 70951 (holotype: IBSC! [IBSC 003387]; isotypes: A! [A 00056747], B! [B 100591455], K! [K 001089921], NY! [NY 00334809], P! [P 00160917], US! [US 00478958]).

Alphonsea mollis sensu Merr. & Chun in Sunyatsenia 2: 230. (1935), non Dunn.

Chinese name.

囊瓣野独活 Náng Bàn Yě Dú Huó.

Description.

Tree up to 25 m tall, to 50 cm in diam.; bark pale yellow; phloem yellowish brown, slightly pungent. Deciduous in winter, though a few leaves often persist; new leaves emerging at anthesis. Annual branches 1.5–2 mm in diam., densely covered with spreading yellowish brown hairs ca. 1 mm long; older branches sparsely pubescent to glabrous, sparsely brown-lenticellate. Petiole 2–4 × 1.5 mm, densely spreading yellowish brown pubescent; leaf blades chartaceous, ovate-oblong to oblong, occasionally elliptic or obovate-oblong, 4–13 × 2–4.5 cm, base rounded, slightly asymmetric, apex acuminate or acute; adaxial surface sparsely pubescent, more densely so on the midvein; abaxial surface densely villous; midvein and lateral veins flat adaxially, raised abaxially; lateral veins 10–14 per side, slender, slightly conspicuous adaxially and abaxially, arched-ascending at 40 ° – 45 ° from midvein, anastomosing 4–5 mm from margin; tertiary veins inconspicuous. Inflorescences on older or current-year branches, axillary, 1 - or 2 - flowered; flowers bisexual, initially yellowish green, becoming light to dark red at maturity, densely villous; peduncle 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm; pedicel 15–30 × 1 mm, reflexed, sparsely villous. Sepals 3, free, narrowly ovate, 5–6 (– 10) × 1.5–2 mm, densely pubescent on both surfaces. Petals 6, in 2 whorls of 3, both surfaces densely pubescent; outer petals narrowly lanceolate, 7–10 (– 13) × 1.5–2 mm, reflexed; inner petals ovate, 20–30 × 10–15 mm, base saccate, inner surface often red, margins more or less appressed, apex spreading and slightly recurved, usually with narrow red stripes along the midvein on the inner surface. Stamens 50–60 in 5–6 whorls, ca. 1 mm long; connective incurved, apically pointed. Carpels 25–35, densely villous; ovary ca. 1 mm long; stigma narrowly ellipsoid, ca. 0.5 mm long, glabrous. Torus ellipsoid, densely white pubescent. Fruiting peduncle 3 × 2 mm; fruiting pedicel 18–25 × 2 mm; stipe 10–18 × 1 mm, pubescent. Monocarps 15–20, subglobose, 1–2 cm in diam., puberulent, initially yellowish green, turning dark red at maturity; seeds 2–8 per monocarp, reniform, with one or two sides flattened, ca. 11 × 5 mm.

Phenology.

Flowering from March to April; fruiting from July to August.

Distribution.

China (Hainan: Baoting, Changjiang, Dongxian, Lingshui, and Lehui; Guangdong: Yangchun; Guangxi: Longzhou) and South and Southeast Asia, extending to Australia (India, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia); also cultivated in Guangzhou.

Habitat.

Dense valley forests at elevations of 300–1000 m.

Notes.

This species was transferred to Saccopetalum on the basis of its combination of non-connate inner petals and up to eight ovules arranged in two rows. Sinclair (1955) argued that characters such as ovule number and the sac-like form of the inner petals are shared by Saccopetalum and Miliusa, thereby supporting Baillon’s (1867) view that Saccopetalum should be reduced to Miliusa. This interpretation was subsequently followed by Fries (1959), Ban (2000), Mols and Kessler (2003 b), and Li and Gilbert (2011). When Tsiang and Li (1964) recombined Alphonsea prolifica Chun & F. C. How as Saccopetalum prolificum (Chun & F. C. How) Y. Tsiang, they designated F. C. How 71794 as the type; however, this typification was superfluous. Guangxi represents a newly recorded distribution for this species in China.

Selected specimens examined.

Guangdong • Yangchun County, alt. 200 m, 24 Nov 1991, H. G. Ye & N. Liu 3133 (IBSC); • ibid, 2 Nov 2002, H. G. Ye 7648 (IBSC). Guangxi • Longzhou County, Sept 1973, Y. T. Zhang Q 11 (3) (PE). Hainan • Baoting County, alt. 330 m, 10 Apr 1935, F. C. How 71794 (IBK, IBSC); • ibid, alt. 150 m, 13 Jun 1958, Q. J. Chen 89544 (IBSC); • ibid, 25 Sept 2012, X. L. Hou & T. X. Sun et al. 12092510 (AU); • ibid, 18.7081°N, 109.6417°E, 9 Feb 2011, X. L. Hou & T. X. Sun 11020904 (AU); • Changjiang County, alt. 600 m, 22 Jun 1982, G. A. Fu 2842 (IBSC); • Dongfang City, 21 Jun 1957, Y. T. Lin 90389 (IBSC); • Ledong County, 2 Oct 2012, X. L. Hou & T. X. Sun et al. 12100203 (AU); • ibid, 7 Apr 2013, X. L. Hou 2013040708 (AU); • ibid, 11 Jun 2016, X. L. Hou & W. W. Xin et al. 71 (AU); • ibid, 24 Apr 2025, Y. J. Li 254 (AU); • Lingshui County, alt. 400 m, 31 Oct 1981, G. A. Fu 152967 (IBSC); • ibid, 10 Dec 1986, F. W. Xing & Z. X. Li 44 (IBSC); • ibid, 10 Dec 1986, F. W. Xing & Z. X. Li s. n. (IBSC); • Qionghai City (Lehui County), 13 May 1935, F. C. How 72328 (IBK, IBSC); • Wanning City, 10 Apr 1935, F. C. How 71794 (IBK); • Yazhou District, Sanya City, 5 Jul 1933, F. C. How 70951 (IBSC); • ibid, 18.392375°N, 109.646275°E, 35 Jan 2011, X. L. Hou & T. X. Sun 11012808 (AU).