Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Cleistanthus myrianthus (Hassk.) Kurz


Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
Tree
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Flowers [not vouchered]. © G. Sankowsky
Flowers [not vouchered]. © G. Sankowsky
Male flowers. © CSIRO
Fruit, three views and shedding seeds. © W. T. Cooper
Leaves and Flowers. © CSIRO
Leaves and fruits. © CSIRO
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, durian germination. © CSIRO
Family

Kurz, W.S. (1875) Prelim. Rep. Forest Pegu, App. A : 370. Type: Frequent in the tropical forests, especially along choungs, from Pegu and Martaban down to Tenasserim and the Andamans.

Stem

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Lenticels tending to be in longitudinal lines.

Leaves

Leaf blades about 10-18 x 3.5-7 cm, shiny brown on the underside. Petioles slightly swollen and transversely wrinkled.

Flowers

Flowers about 2 mm diam. Calyx glabrous throughout. Ovary glabrous.

Fruit

Fruit disintegrating at maturity leaving the stalk and central axis attached to the tree. Capsule (without stalk) 8-9 mm long.

Seedlings

Cotyledons remain in the seed coat and the first pair of leaves is produced before the seed coat is shed. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic with a long acuminate apex, base rounded, underside brown; petioles hairy. Seed germination time 13 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in NEQ, restricted to the area between Rossville and the Daintree River. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 300 m. Grows in well developed lowland rain forest. Also occurs in SE Asia, Malesia and the Solomon Islands.

Synonyms
Nanopetalum myrianthum Hassk., Verslagen Meded. Afd. Natuurk. Kon. Akad. Wetensch. 4: 141(1855), Type: Java, Bantam, S coast, 1841, Hasskarl, Lectotype: BO, (Airy Shaw 1980b) ; Iso: L, U, K.
RFK Code
543
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