Ardisia foliosa Furtado

Julius, A. & Utteridge, T.M.A. Kew Bull (2012) 67: 379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-012-9374-4

Type

Type: Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan, GuaMusang-Kuala Betis track, Henderson 29656 (holotype SING!; isotypes K!, L!).

Morphology General Habit

A small undershrub 28 – 40 cm high, lower stem procumbent and often rooting

Morphology General Indumentum

Indumentum of simple, short, brown hairs, dense on young vegetative parts, becoming glabrous or glabrescent when mature, sparse and stiff on peduncles, pedicels and bracts

Morphology Leaves

Leaves in crowded subverticils; petioles 9 – 15 mm long; laminas chartaceous, linear-lanceolate, 7 – 23 × 1 – 2 cm, dark green above, pale beneath, base attenuate, margin serrulate, apex acute-mucronate; midrib flat on upper surface, raised beneath; lateral veins 12 – 17 pairs, slightly raised above, distinct beneath; intercostal veins obscure

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences axillary, simple, racemose to compound-racemose, 3 – 3.5 cm long, peduncle c. 2 cm long; bracts leaf-like, linear, 1 – 2 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers 3 – 7; pedicels 8 – 10 mm long; calyx lobes pale brownish, broadly ovate, c. 1 mm long, apex acute, margin ciliate, gland-dotted; corolla-lobes white with reddish gland-dots, ovate, 3 – 4 × 1 – 1.5 mm, apex acuminate, glabrous; stamens 5, filaments short, anthers lanceolate, c. 1.2 mm long, apex mucronate; ovary subglobose, c. 1.2 mm long, puberulous, style slender filiform, 3 – 4 mm long, stigma sessile

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits globose, c. 1.5 × 1.2 cm, glabrous, shiny, bright red; 1-seeded.

Distribution

Malaysia: endemic to Kelantan, Johor and Terengganu. Map 2.

Ecology

Collected from primary or secondary forests in riverine, shaded and moist areas; 145 m above sea level.

Note

The name refers to the narrow or linear leaves that are crowded along the stem.

Ardisiafoliosa is distinct with a low habit, and linear-lanceolate leaves crowded in subverticils. The distinctive leaf shape was the basis of Ridley’s name when he first described this species but, unfortunately, the name had already been published for a species from Sumatra (Miquel 1861).