Chassalia ramosa T.Y.Yu, 2021

Turner, Ian M. & Cheek, Martin, 2021, Revision of Chassalia (Rubiaceae-Rubioideae-Palicoureeae) in Borneo, with 14 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 738, pp. 1-60 : 53-56

Chassalia ramosa T.Y.Yu sp. nov.

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77215415-1

Figs 30–31

Diagnosis

Differs from other Bornean species of Chassalia by the stems usually dividing terminally into two flowering branches, also in the highly contracted inflorescence rachis and first branches which are less than 0.5 mm long or less, each inflorescence comprising a single capitulum.

Etymology

The epithet reflects the high level of branching in this species, making its gestalt distinctive compared with other species of Chassalia in Borneo.

Type

MALAYSIA – Borneo, Sabah • Ranau District, Kalangaan Ridge just above Liwagu River ; 6°00′40″ N, 116°33′00″ E; alt. 1500 m; 3 May 1995; John H. Beaman 11533; holotype: K [ K001129726 ]!; isotypes: UNIMAS, IBEC .

Additional material

MALAYSIA – Borneo, Sabah • Ranau District, Taman Kinabalu, side of Silau trail; 17 Jan. 1987; Amin et al. SAN 117332 ; K!, SAN • Mount Kinabalu, Bukit Burung Trail near Park Headquarters ; 6°00′ N, 116°32′ E; alt. 1500 m; 3 May 1995; Teofila E. Beaman 252; K!, UNIMAS, IBEC • Mount Kinabalu, lower Siau-silau trail near Park Headquarters ; 6°00′30″ N, 116°32′40″ E; alt. 1500 m; 24 Mar. 1995; John H. Beaman 11400; K!, UNIMAS, IBEC • Tambunan District, Crocker Range, Km 59.5 on Kota Kinabalu–Tanbunan Road ; 5°06′ N, 116°21′ W; alt. 1400 m; John H. Beaman 7343; K!, MSC, UKMS .

Description

Shrub, 1–1.5 m tall, glabrous. Stems terete, slightly hollowed or not hollowed, usually bifurcating terminally, with each branch producing an inflorescence, internodes on old branches 3–5 cm, internode on flowering shoot 1–6.5 cm × 1–2.5 mm, sometimes slightly canaliculate. Leaf-blades elliptic to oblanceolate, 10–15 × 3–4.5 cm, apex acuminate, acumen 1.5–2 cm, base truncate; midrib slightly raised from both adaxial and abaxial, secondary nerves 10–12 on each side of the midrib, petiole 1–4 cm long. Stipule flabellate, old stipules 1 × 0.6–1 cm. Inflorescence terminal, capitula condensed into one head, peduncle 1.5–3 cm, rachis and first branches less than 0.5 mm or absent, bracts of rachis and first branches 2, elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, 13–18 × 1–1.5(–5) mm, bracts of each capitulum lanceolate, 10 × 3–5 mm. Flower not seen. Fruits dark green to bluish black, 5–7 in each capitulum, ellipsoid, 6–7 × 5.5–6 × 4.5–5 mm, pedicel 3 × 0.5 mm, calyx persistent, not accrescent, 0.5 × 1.3 mm, disc persistent, not accrescent, 0.2 × 0.6 mm. Pyrene plano-convex, 6–7 × 5.5–6 × 2.5–3 mm, dorsal surface convex, with two adjacent parallel longitudinal crests, 0.3 mm wide, 0.2 mm apart along their length, forming a longitudinal groove from apex to base between the two crests; ventral surface concave, central part slightly elevated, margin with an endocarpal outgrowth 0.4–0.5 mm wide, with a groove between the edge of endocarp and endocarpal outgrowth 0.1 mm wide; raphal opening at base of the endocarpal outgrowth, round, 0.4 mm wide, 0.3 mm from the edge of the pyrene wall, apex with a bony spine, spine triangular, erect, 1 × 0.1 mm. PGS not detected. Seed not detected.

Distribution, habitat

Borneo: Malaysia, Ranau District and Tambunan District, around Mount Kinabalu, Crocker Formation and Trusmadi Formation; lower montane forest, at 1400–1500 m a.s.l.

Figures

Fig. 30. Chassalia ramosa T.Y.Yu sp. nov. A. Flowering shoot. B. Infructescence with young fruit. C. Infructescence with ripe fruit. D. Dry fruit. E. Pyrene ventral surface. A–B from John H. Beaman 11533; C–E from John H. Beaman 11400. Drawn by T.Y. Yu.

Fig. 31. Holotype of Chassalia ramosa T.Y.Yu sp. nov. (John H. Beaman 11533).