Pycnarrhena ozantha Diels

Menispermaceae

Diels, F.L.E. (1915) Botanische Jahrb. 52: 187. Type: New Guinea, Sepk Dist., Lordberg, Ledermann 10266; iso: K, L.

Vine stem diameters to 8 cm recorded. Living bark layer very thin. Concentric rings of included bark are visible in transverse sections of the stem.

Leaf blades about 6.5-22 x 2.5-8.5 cm, petioles about 1-2 cm long. Lateral veins forming loops well inside the blade margin. Oak grain in the twigs.

Flowers emit an unpleasant odour. Male flowers: Flowers borne in fascicles on slender leafy stems, pedicels about 2.5-4 mm long. Sepals five or six, orbicular, adaxial surface concave, about 1.5-2 mm diam. Petals absent. Stamens about 10-14, anthers wider than long, staminal filaments about 0.5-0.6 mm long, broadest at the apex.

Fruits orange and red, about 35 x 35 x 30 mm, slightly asymmetrical and laterally compressed. Endocarps, reniform, about 25-30 x 20 x 17 mm, surface textured. Cotyledons unequal in size. Radicle about 1-1.5 mm long.

A number (about 13) small, inconspicuous buds or cataphylls produced before the first true leaves. First true leaves elliptic, apex acuminate, base narrowly cordate. Upper surface very shiny, glabrous, lower surface clothed in short appressed hairs only on the midrib. Lateral veins forming loops inside the blade margin. Pulvinus about half as long as the petiole. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic, apex shortly acuminate, base cuneate, obtuse to auriculate. Lateral veins about 7-9 on each side of the midrib, forming definite loops well inside the blade margin. Midrib +/- flush with the upper surface. Petioles clothed in short, dark, appressed hairs. Pulvinus elongated. Terminal buds and stems clothed in short brown appressed hairs. Seed germination time 118 to 394 days.

Occurs in CYP. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 100 m. Grows in gallery forest and monsoon forest. Also occurs in New Guinea.

Bark material of this species was active against some tumors. Collins et al. (1990).

Pynarrhena papuana Kanehira & Hatusima, Bot. Mag. Tokyo 56: 473(1942), Type: New Guinea, S. of Manokwari, Waren, Kanehra & Hatusima 13259; iso: BO.