R E I N W A R D T I A Published by Herbarium Bogoriense — LBN, Bogor Vol. 10, Part 1, pp. 21 — 26 (1982) MISCELLANEOUS BOTANICAL NOTES XXVI * C. G. G. J. VAN STEENIS & J. F. VELDKAMP Rijksherbarium, Leiden, The Netherlands ABSTRACT Description of the pod of the type tree of Ormosia incerta Koord. (reduced to 0. psnangensis Ridl.) from Java. Reduction of the genus Trifidacanthus Merr. (Legum.) to Desmodium; one new combination necessary. The genus Platyspermation Guillaumin described from New Caledonia in Myrtaeeae, suggested to belong to Saxifragaceae-Escallonioidsae. Juncus bufonius L. recorded as introduced on Mt Kinabalu. Two Fimbristylis species recorded new for the Northern Territory, Australia; Oreobolus kukenthalii Steen. recorded from Mt Muln, Sarawak. ABSTRAK Pertelaan polong dan pohon tipe Ormosia incerta Koord. (yang direduksi ke O. penangensis Ridl.) dari Jawa diberikan. Trifidacanthus Merr. direduksi menjadi Desmodium dan suatu kombinasi baru diusulkan. Platy- spermation Guillaumin, semula dimasukkan dalam Myrtaeeae, dipindah ke Saxifragaceae. Juncus bufonius L. direkam sebagai pendatang di G. Kina- balu. Dua Fimbristylis direkam dari Australia Utara dan Oreobolus kukenthalii Steen. direkam dari G. Mulu (Sarawak). 155. DESCRIPTION OF THE POD OF ORMOSIA PENANGENSIS RIDL. (LEGUMINOSAE) During a trip to Indonesia from 17 May to 10 June 1980 — a privilege through the generous invitation of Mrs. Dr. Setljati Sastrapradja, Director of Lembaga Biologi Nasional — my wife and I stayed for two nights in the guesthouse of the Cibodas mountain garden on the north slope of Mt Gede. The unique Forest Reserve above the garden is now well protected under the guardianship of the Nature Conservancy P.P.A. * The previous instalment containing the notes 150 — 154 was published in Blumea 24: 479—484. 1978. — 21 — 2 2 R E I N W A R D T 1 A [VOL. 1 0 Although illegitimate logging, mainly of the old Altingia, has taken place in the past, it is a pleasure to see this unique rain-forest in good condition. So is the situation at Cibeureum, with its beautiful waterfalls and surrounding spray vegetation, the small, concealed peatbog Rawa Gajongong where Xyris is still found embedded in Sphagnum, and Telaga Warna_ near Puntjak Pass. We found some Strobilanthes cernua in flower. We did not find the specimens of Anemone and Impatiens, transplanted by Docters van Leeuwen from Sumatra; they are probably smothered by the aggressive Eupatorium triplinerve which now clothes every trail-edge. Part of my interest during this short stay concerned checking legu- minous tree species along the old trail to 'Huis ten Bosch' and the ridge bordering the ravine. These numbered trees had been described as a new species of the genus Ormosia, of which genus four species occur in Java, all of them very rare and local. Koorders had collected specimens in flowering state (27 Dec. 1915), but during the twenty years I stayed in Kebun Raya I never found the trees in flower or fruit, although the curators Bruggeman and Van Woerden, and the Indonesian mantra Nurta, had been alerted of the desirability of collecting its fruit. My later student, Mrs. M. S. Knaap-van Meeuwen, had made a study of the genus Ormosia and reduced the Cibodas species to a species described from Malaya, 0. penangensis Ridl. It seems important to describe the fruit of the Javanese specimens, in addition to the brief note on the fruit of a single collection from Penang by Whitmore (see below). ORMOSIA PENANGENSIS Ridley Ormosia penanyensis Ridley in J. Str. Br. R. As. Soc. 68: 11. 1915; Fl. Mai. Pen. 1: 613. 1922; Merr. & Chen in Sargrentia 3: 83. 1943; Backer & Bakh. v.d. Brink f., PI. Java 3: 650. 1968; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 1: 301. 1972. 0. incerta Koord., Atlas Baumarten Java 4: t. 798. 1918; Merr. & Chen in Sargentia 3: 82. 1943; Backer & Bakh. v.d. Brink f., Fl. Java 1: 577. 1963. Pods distinctly woody and hard, dull, with a slightly roughish sur- face, sessile, oval with an oblique, acute apex, thickened at both margins, fully dehiscing on one side and to 1/4—1/3 on the other side at apex, 4—6 1/2 by 23/4—3 cm. Seeds 4(—5), sometimes only one developed in smaller pods, separated by sharp ridges, with hard seed coat, slightly compressed-ellipsoid, 12—14 by 7—9 mm, 6—7 mm thick; hilum terminal 4 by 2 mm. 1982] VAN STEENIS & VELDKAMP: Botanical notes 23 DISTRIBUTION: Penang (Haniff s.n.; FR1 1073). Peninsular Malaysia (Trengganu, Ulu Brang, 1100 m alt., FRI 12699). Java: rain-forest above Cibodas mountain garden, ridge along ravine, trail to 'Huis ten Bosch', c. 1550 m alt., numbered and labelled tree n. 352, Koorders field n. 3416A, Koorders herb. n. 42648, type tree of Ormosia incerta- Koord., fl. Dec. 1915; fruit collected, Van Steenis & G. Hambali 24288, end May 1980. NOTES : The fruit described by Whitmore agrees rather well with the fruit collected in Java. Whitmore found the seed in the one fruiting specimen of Penang red with a black patch. The one well-developed seed of the Java collection seems to agree with the brief description by Whitmore, but the red colour had turned brownish by age and the one darkened edge may well represent the black patch mentioned by him. Finally I will add the remark that, trusting my memory, the trees had not or hardly grown taller or thicker than I remembered them from forty years ago, when I made vainless efforts to collect flowers for my Mountain Flora of Java. Obviously growth is very slow. I have to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Gregori Hambali, of Herbarium Bogoriense, to whose uncanny ability to climb trees we owe this fruiting material and who diligently guided us during our trips in Java. 156. REDUCTION OF TRIFIDACANTHUS MERR. TO DESMODIUM (LEGUMINOSAE) In 1917 Merrill (see below) described a small, erect shrub from the Philippines, Ilocos Norte Province in N.W. Luzon, as representing a new leguminous genus probably belonging to the Desmodiinae. It was "strongly characterized by its long, straight, trifid spines" and had l-foliolate leaves. Two years later Ramos & Edafio collected in the type locality a fruiting specimen by which Merrill concluded that he had been correct in its placing and that "it is manifestly most closely allied to Desmodium, from which, among other characters, it is distinguished by its characteristic spines". What the other characters were was not disclosed. In fact, as far as I can see, the occurrence of thorns is the only deviating character. As I have exposed two years ago (in Blumea 24: 482. 1978) the thorns are short shoots as is shown by leaf-insertion vestiges. I recall that other thorny species were described, viz. Desmo- dium acanthocladum F.v.M. from N.E. New South Wales and D. horridum Steen. from Lombok and Flores in the Lesser Sunda Islands (in Blumea 24: 482. 1978). There is no doubt in my mind that the Luzon species 2 4 R E I N W A R D T I A [VOL. 1 0 also belongs to Desmodium. The occurrence of spines is, I believe, even not sufficient for infrageneric rank; one cannot be sure of common phylogeny with such eco-taxonomical characters. The habitat of all three thorny species is dry thickets at low altitude, that is, a typical monsoon climate. Desmodium unifoliolatum (Merr.) Steen., comb. nov. Trifidacanthus unifoliolatus Merr. in Philip. J. Sc. 12: Bot. 269. 1917; in Philip. J. Sc. 14: 405. 1919; En. Philip. Fl. PL 2: 292. 1923; Merr. & Chun in Sunyatsenia 2: 248. 1935; Tanaka & Odashima in J. Trop. Agric. 10: 369. 1938; Masamune, Fl. Kainantensis: 137. 1943; W.Y. Chun & C.C. Chang, Fl. Hainanica 2: 268, fig. 431. 1965. Differences with D. homdum: Leaflets consistently 1-foliolate. Pedicels short, \y% mm, in fruit lengthening to 6 mm. Calyx 3 mm. Flowers slightly larger, the wings 10 mm and keel petals c. 10 by 3V-> mm. Vexillary filament free. Ovules cq. joints 3—6. Style glabrous. DISTRIBUTION: Philippines: N.W. Luzon, Ilocos Norte Prov., Burgos. Ramos & Edano BS 27196, fl,, type: ditto, Ramos & Edano BS 32770, fr.; ditto, Ramos BS 32025, fr. (GH). Batangas Prov. Sulit FB 28265 (A, L). South China: Hainan, Merrill & Chun, ll.cc. NOTES : Sincere thanks are due to Miss Bernice G. Schubert, Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., who in sorting out Des- modiums, and coming across a duplicate of D. horridum, put my attention to the similarity with Trifidacanthus. 157. PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE TAXONOMIC DISPOSITION OF PLATYSPERMATION GUILLAUMIN (MYRTACEAE) FROM NEW CALEDONIA At the request of Dr. J. F. Veldkamp I have cursorily examined material of Platyspermation crassifolium Guillaumin, a monotypic genus from New Caledonia described in the Myrtaceae {in Acta Hort. Gotoburg. 18: 253, pi. 1950). Because of the assumption that the leaves possessed glands, this species was placed in Myrtaceae. H. K. Airy Shaw placed it in Rutaceae (in Willis, Diet, ed. 8: 915. 1973). However, the inferior ovary, the developing fruit, and the inflores- cence reminded me strongly of the genus Carpodeius J. R. & G. Forster, a West Pacific genus. 1982] VAN STEENIS & VELDKAMP: Botanical notes 25 A closer examination showed that there are no pellucid dots by oil glands and Dr. P. Baas (Rijksherbarium, Leiden) confirmed that the dark dots present consist of tannin cells. Dr. Baas was of the opinion that the anatomy excludes it from the Myrtaceae. Furthermore, Dr. J. Muller (Rijksherbarium, Leiden) also excludes it from Myrtaceae because of the structure of the pollen which he examined. In examining the seeds I found they also strongly remind of those in Carpodetus; in both they are brown, flat, albuminous and have a distinc- tive sculpture. Thus I have come to the tentative opinion that Platy- spermation belongs to Saxifragaceae-Escallonioideae, and is allied to Carpodetus. They can be distinguished as follows: Platyspermation: Various parts with brown dots. Leaves tufted, extremely scleromorph, strongly recurved, glabrous, probably entire. Calyx persistent. Anthers sessile, brown hairy below, with large flat connective appendage at apex. Ovary and fruit 2-celled, with very thick, brown placenta and rather few ovules. Seeds flat, with sculptured testa, ciliate with inflated hairs on the margin. Carpodetus: No brown dots seen. Leaves flat, serrate to fine- dentate, not tufted, mostly hairy. Anthers with a distinct filament, glabrous and without apical appendage. Ovary and fruit 3—5-celled; placenta not thickened; ovules many. Seeds flattened, with very regu- larly sculptured testa, not ciliate. 158. JUNCUS BUFONIUS LINNfi (JUNCACEAE) ON MT KINABALU, SABAH Juneus bufonius Linne has been recorded for Luzon as a possible introduction (Backer, Fl. Males. I, 4: 212. 1951) and has now turned up on Mt Kinabalu, also. The specimens represent a very curious form of the species. The culms are tufted, and may become prostrate, rooting in the nodes, from where new tufts are sent up. The inflorescence is little branched with widely spaced flowers, 0.3—0.4 times as long a,s the internodes. The outer tepals are falcately recurved, especially in fruit, and exceptionally long, up to 12.5 mm. More usual is at most 8 mm and generally much less. The inner tepals are straight with a mucro- nate apex, 0.4—0.75 times as long as the outer, and c. 1.3 times as long as the fruit. Only 3 or 4 fertile stamens were observed. The fruits contain numerous, apparently viable seeds. The collector, Dr. J. M. B. Smith, Armidale, Australia, reports to have observed the species in one place already in 1967, while it was almost certainly absent then in the 2 6 R E I N W A R D T I A [VOL. 1 0 other Panar Laban 'old huts', 3300 m alt. (/. M. B. Smith s.n., 1967, KLU; 464, 28 July 1978, KLU, L.), and Sayat-sayat Hut, 3760 m alt. (J.M.B. Smith 520, 29 July 1978, KLU, L.). As this species has not been collected here before, it seems most likely an introduction. Unfortunately no Philippine specimens could be com- pared. — J.F. Veldkamp. 159. SOME NEW RECORDS OF CYPERACEAE FIMBRISTYLIS ERAGROSTIS (Nees) Hance Fimbristylis eragrostis (Nees) Hance in J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 13: 132. 1873; Kern, Fl. Males. I, 7: 567. 1974. A widely distributed species, from Ceylon to New Guinea. DISTRIBUTION: Australia: Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, P.K. Latz 2836, 12°45'S, 59°E. — J.F. Veldkamp. FIMBRISTYLIS FUSCA (Nees) Clarke Fimbristylis fusca (Nees) Clarke, Fl. Br. Ind. 6: 649. 1893; Kern, Fl, Males. I, 7: 567. 1974. A widely distributed species from India to Japan and New Guinea. DISTRIBUTION: Australia: Northern Territory, Katherine Gorge, 14°19'S. 132°25'E, Dunlop 3733. — J.F. Veldkamp. OREOBOLUS KtiKENTHALII Steen. Oreobolus kiikenthalii Steen. in Kukenthal in Fedde, Repert. 44: 187. 1938; Kern, Fl. Males. I, 7: 85. 1974. This species was hitherto only known from North Sumatra (Gajo- lands) and Peninsular Malaysia. DISTRIBUTION: Sarawak: 4th Division, north side of Mt Mulu, forming dense tufts in wet rock holes at 2100 m alt., B.L. Burtt & A.M. Martin B 5482, Oct. 1979. NOTE : It is very curious that this species extends its range also to Borneo, because Mt Kinabalu in Sabah is the most western locality of another species, O. ambigum Kiik. & Steen., which would more likely have been expected on Mt Mulu. It may be that both species occur on Mt Kinabalu; future collectors should be aware of this possibility. 10(1) 251 Binder cover-100_Page_007