Garcinia discoidea Nazre, 2018

Nazre, M., Newman, M. F., Pennington, R. T. & Middleton, D. J., 2018, Taxonomic Revision of Garcinia Section Garcinia (Clusiaceae), Phytotaxa 373 (1), pp. 1-52 : 26-28

4. Garcinia discoidea Nazre , sp. nov.

Garciniae celebicae similis sed foliis floribusque multo crassioribus et magis coriaceis differt.

Type:— MALAYSIA, Peninsular, Johor, Mawai-Jemaluang , 23 April 1930, Corner SFN 34940 (Holotype: KEP!; isotypes: L!, SING!). [ Figure 9 ] .

Tree to 20 m tall. Bole with greyish brown, dippled and flaking bark, inner bark reddish brown, sapwood yellowish red. Exudate white, turning pale yellow or cream. Twigs angled, stout, longitudinally wrinkled when dry, dark brown to yellowish or pale green. Petiole finely transversely striate, stout, dark brown to reddish brown (or brownish-yellow to yellowish in new specimens), 1.3–2.5 cm long. Lamina thickly leathery, dark brown to brown-maroon (pale brown or pale grey-brown to greenish in new specimens), darker and shiny above, elliptic to broadly elliptic, oblong or ovate, 7.6–20.6 × 2.7–9.3 cm, apex blunt, acute or acuminate, base obtuse to cuneate; midrib same colour as petiole, slightly raised above, raised and sharp below; margin entire and finely revolute; secondary veins fine, visible above but inconspicuous and nearly invisible below, closely arranged, brochidodromous; tertiary veins invisible. Glands very fine, inconspicuous, visible on new specimens especially at the base of the leaf, invisible on much older specimens, in closely arranged dark grey-green to blackish, interrupted wavy lines, nearly parallel to the midrib, running from midrib across secondary veins to margin. Inflorescences possibly terminal. Male flowers rarely found, sepals and petals 4, very thickly leathery, outer usually thicker; pedicel to 15 mm long, stout, angled; sepals concave, broadly ovate, 9.5–11.5 × 11–13 mm; petals broadly ovate or oblanceolate, 12–13 × 11–14 mm; stamens arranged in 4-lobed central bundle surrounding the pistillode; pistillode fungiform; anthers 2-thecous, sessile. Female flowers not seen. Fruit solitary and terminal, ellipsoid or ovoid, green when unripe, pale to dark brown or blackish maroon when dry, smooth and finely transversely striate or sometimes with fine lenticels, 2–5.6 × 0.6–4 cm; tipped by discoid black stigma, slightly raised to 3 mm, surface flattened or sometimes sunken in the middle, weakly 4-lobed, to 10 mm across; with thick leathery prominent sepals, always curved downwards; seeds 1–4 with a white aril.

Etymology:—Latin, from discoid shape of stigma

Distribution and Habitat:—Widespread but uncommon in lowland to montane forest and occasionally found in swamp forest in Peninsular Malaysia.

Taxonomic Notes:—Whitmore ( Kochummen & Whitmore 1973: 277) recognised this species as Garcinia hombroniana variety A. Typical G. hombroniana is now included in G. celebica . The male flowers of G. discoidea closely resemble G. celebica L. with stamens in 4 lobes. The flowers of Garcinia discoidea are, however, much thicker and more leathery. The leaf differs from G. celebica by being much thicker and the secondary veins are almost invisible on the lower surface.

Additional specimens examined:— MALAYSIA. Peninsular: Johor: Mawai-Jemaluang Road , 8 February 1935, Corner s.n. (KEP!, SING!) ; Mersing, Tanjung Sedili Kecil 46 miles Kuala Sedili new road, 21 June 1959, Burkill HMB1854 (L!) ; Endau, Kampung Hubong, 15 July 1959, Kadim & Mohd Noor KN 307 (L!, SING!) . Kedah: Kuala Nerang, Kuala Nerang Road, Corner SFN31499 ( SING!) . Pahang: Cameron Highlands, Bukit Ruil , 6 October 1963, Chew CWL843 (KEP!, SING!, UC!) ; Fraser’s Hill Path to Pine Hill , March 1967, Ng FRI5017 (KEP!, L!) ; 6 miles Kampung Aur , 18 February 1971, Samsuri Ahmad & Ahmad Shukor SA 462 ( SING!) . Selangor: Bukit Arang, Gunung Arang Forest Reserve , 13 September 1969, Kochummen FRI2756 (A!, KEP!) .

Figures

FIGURE 9. Garcinia discoidea Nazre. A. habit (female); B. male flower; C, D. fruits and stigma. [(A, C: Shamsul SA02-10, UPM); (B: Corner s.n., SING); (D: Kadim KN307, L)]. Drawn by Anna Dorward.