Malesian Euphorbiaceae Descriptions

15. BISCHOFIA (Phyllanthaceae)

 

P.C. van Welzen

 

Welzen, P.C. van. 2016. Bischofia and Hymenocardia (Phyllanthaceae) in Malesia. Blumea 61: 272-279.

 

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Genus description

Species description

Excluded species

 

Bischofia Blume

 

    Bischofia Blume, Bijdr. 17 (1826-27) 1168; Endl., Gen. Pl. 15 (1840) 1149; Decne. in A.D.Orb., Dict. Univ. Hist. Nat. 2 (1842) 580’(‘Bischoffia); Hassk., Cat. Hort. Bogor. (1844) 250 (‘Bischoffia’); Hook., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 9 (1852) t. 844; Baill., Étude Euphorb. (1858) 594; Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 1, 2 (1859) 363; Fl. Ned. Ind., Eerste bijv. (1860) 178, 444; Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 478 (‘Bischoffia’); Bedd., Fl. Sylv. S. India 2 (1872) pl. 259 (‘Bischoffia’); Brandis, Forest Fl. N.W. India (1874) 445 (‘Bischoffia’); Kurz, Forest Fl. Burma 2 (1877) 355 (‘Bischoffia’); Gamble, Man. Ind. Timb. (1881) 355 (‘Bischoffia’); Benth. in Benth. & Hook.f., Gen. Pl. 3, 1 (1880) 281; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5 (1887) 344; Pax in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3, 5 (1890) 33; J.J.Sm., Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 10 (1910) 290; Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV.147.xv (1922) 312 (‘Bischoffia’); Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5 (1927) 542; Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 19c (1931) 78; Hurus., J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, Sect. 3, Bot. 6 (1954) 339 (‘Bischoffia’); Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1 (1963) 473; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 27 (1972a) 271; A.C.Sm., Fl. Vit. Nov. 2 (1981) 494; Radcl.-Sm., Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94 (1987) 54; G.L.Webster, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 81 (1994) 54; Govaerts et al., World Checkl. & Bibliogr. Euphorbiaceae (2000) 264; Radcl.-Sm., Gen. Euphorbiacearum (2001) 77; Welzen in Chayam. & Welzen, Fl. Thailand 8, 1 (2005) 122; P.T.Li (Li BT) & M.G.Gilbert in Zhengyi Wu & P.H.Raven, Fl. China 11 (2008) 217; G.L.Webster in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 11 (2014) 89; Welzen, Blumea 61 (2016) 273.— Type: Bischofia javanica Blume.

    Microelus Wight & Arn., Edinburgh New Philos. J. 14 (1833) 298. — Type: Microelus roeperianus (= Bischofia javanica Blume).

    Stylodiscus Benn., Pl. Jav. Rar. (1840) 133. ― Type: Andrachne trifoliata Roxb. (Stylodiscus trifoliatus (Roxb.) Benn.) (= Bischofia javanica Blume).

 

Tree, dioecious, deciduous (flowering when in young leaf), latex red. Indumentum simple hairs, only very locally present. Stipules falcate, early caducous. Leaves alternate, 3-foliolate (to 5-imparipinnate), usually crowded at end of branchlets, petiole long; leaflets symmetric, basally attached, margin (serrulate to) serrate with sharp teeth, without glands, sometimes seemingly entire in old leaves, surfaces smooth, (sub)glabrous, lower surface usually with (sac-like or hole) domatia in axils of midrib and secondary veins and/or in the axils of secondary and tertiary veins; venation pinnate, nerves seemingly looped and closed near margin, veins indistinctly reticulate. Inflorescences axillary to pseudoterminal racemes (B. racemosa) or panicles (B. javanica), pendulous in fruit; flowers single per bract; bracts early caducous. Flowers actinomorphic; sepals 5, free; petals and disc absent. Staminate flowers: pedicel with subbasal abscission zone; sepals hooded around stamens when young, reflexing, valvate; receptacle torus-like, with stamens attached below pistillode; stamens 5, episepalous, filament short, anthers large, latrorse, thecae two, connective narrow; pistillode 5-lobed, infundibuliform. Pistillate flowers: pedicel with abscission zone in ± middle; sepals imbricate, flat; staminodes absent or early caducous, small, strap-like; ovary 3(4)-locular, globose; ovules 2 per locule; style short, stigmas long, apically entire, upper surface with stigmatic tissue. Fruits drupes, (sub)globose, smooth, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp woody. Seeds obovoid, rather crescent-moon-shaped, smooth, naked.

    Distribution ― Two species, one locally in China, the other from India to the Pacific.

 

Bischofia javanica Blume

 

    Bischofia javanica Blume, Bijdr. 17 (1826-27) 1168; Hassk., Cat. Hort. Bogor. (1844) 250 (‘Bischoffia’); Decne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde 4 (1844) 153; Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 1, 2 (1859) 363; Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 478 (‘Bischoffia’); Bedd., Fl. Sylv. S. India 2 (1872) pl. 259 (‘Bischoffia’); Brandis, Forest Fl. N.W. India (1874) 446 (‘Bischoffia’); Kurz, Forest Fl. Burma 2 (1877) 355 (‘Bischoffia’); Gamble, Man. Ind. Timb. (1881) 355 (‘Bischoffia’); Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5 (1887) 345; J.J.Sm., Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 10 (1910) 291; Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV.147.xv (1922) 313, fig. 26 (‘Bischoffia’); Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5 (1927) 542, fig. 66: 15-18; fig. 67: 6-10; Hurus., J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, Sect. 3, Bot. 6 (1954) 339 (‘Bischoffia’); Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1 (1963) 474; A.C.Sm., Fl. Vit. Nov. 2 (1981) 495; Radcl.-Sm., Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94 (1987) 54, fig. 7; Welzen in Chayam. & Welzen, Fl. Thailand 8, 1 (2005) 124, fig. 26, plate V: 2; in Welzen & Chayam., Fl. Thailand 8, 2 (2007) 610, Fig. 1; P.T.Li (Li BT) & M.G.Gilbert in Zhengyi Wu & P.H.Raven, Fl. China 11 (2008) 217; Welzen, Blumea 61 (2016) 273, fig. 1, map 1. — Bischofia javanica Blume var. genuina Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 478 (‘Bischoffia’), nom. illeg. ― Lectotype (designated by Welzen 2016): Anonymous (Blume) s.n., s.d. (L, L 0448126), Java.

    Andrachne trifoliata Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 1832, 3 (1832) 728. — Stylodiscus trifoliatus (Roxb.) Benn., Pl. Jav. Rar. (1840) 133, t. 29.— Bischofia trifoliata (Roxb.) Hook., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 9 (1852) t. 844. ― Bischofia javanica Blume var. lanceolata Müll. Arg. in A. DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 479 (‘Bischoffia’). ― Lectotype (designated by Welzen 2016): Roxburgh plate 1698 (CAL), India (see note).

    Microelus roeperianus Wight & Arn., Edinburgh New Philos. J. 14 (1833) 298; Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5 (1852) t. 1880. — Bischofia roeperiana (Wight & Arn.) Decne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde 4 (1844) 153; Baill., Étude Euphorb. (1858) 595, Pl. 26, fig. 25-32 (‘Bischoffia’). — Lectotype (designated by Welzen 2016, following Hooker 1887): R. Wight 941 (E, E00179541; iso BR, E, 4 sheets, G-DC, K, 2 sheets), Peninsula Ind. orientalis.

    Bischofia oblongifolia Decne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde 4 (1844) 152, t. 153 (in text ‘tab. 154’). Bischofia javanica Blume var. oblongifolia (Decne.) Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 479 (‘Bischoffia’). ― Type: Not indicated.

    Bischofia toui Decne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde 4 (1844) 153. ― Bischofia javanica Blume var. toui (Decne.) Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 478 (‘Bischoffia’). ― Type: Not indicated.

    [Andrachne apetala Roxb. ex Wall., Numer. List (1847) 7956A, nom. inval., nom. nud.]

    Bischofia leptopoda Müll.Arg. in A.DC., Prodr. 15, 2 (1866) 479 (‘Bischoffia’). ― Type: Herbarium of the U.S. Exploring Expedition under the command of Capt. Wilkes s.n., 1865 (holo G-DC), Tonga.

    Phyllanthus ? gymnanthus Baill., Adansonia 2 (1862) 240 ― Type: Vieillard 1162 (P), New Caledonia, Kanala.

 

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Tree up to 40 m high, dbh up to 2 m; buttresses often present, up to 0.5 m high, 1.5 cm out. Outer bark thin, up to 3 mm thick, slightly cracked to usually flaking with fibrous, thin strips (like Eucalyptus) or scaling, pale reddish to usually dark brown to grey-brown; inner bark up to 1 cm thick, red-brown to pink to light reddish to cream inside, soft; exudate red; sapwood white to light red, soft to hard; heartwood dark beefy red. Stipules c. 5 by 1.7 mm. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 5.5-17.5 cm long, petiolules up to 6.5 cm long, especially central one longer; leaflets mainly elliptic, 5-18 by 2.5-10 cm, length/width ratio 1.4-2.3, coriaceous when mature; base cuneate, occasionally with two glandular teeth at point of petiole insertion on upper surface, apex acuminate (to cuspidate), upper surface dark green, lower surface light green; nerves in 7-8 pairs. Inflorescences up to 32 cm long in fruit, branching often tomentose, glabrescent; bracts ovate, those to branches c 4.3 by 1.8 mm, those to flowers 0.8-2.6 by 0.3-1.3 mm. Staminate flowers c. 2.5 mm in diameter; red in bud, yellowish when open; pedicel c. 2.6 mm long; sepals ovate to almost circular, 1.2-2 by 0.6-1.1 mm, light green, apex rounded, slightly hairy; torus c. 0.5 mm high; filaments 0.5-0.6 mm long, light green, anthers c. 1 by 0.8 mm, yellow-green to light yellow. Pistillate flowers quickly developing into fruits; pedicel in fruit up to 11 mm long; sepals ovate, 2.1-4 by 0.8-1 mm, apex acute; staminodes up to c. 0.5 mm high; ovary green; style c. 0.7 mm long, stigmas 4.5-5 mm long, whitish. Fruits dry 8-10 by 7-10 mm, wrinkled, dark red to brown. Seeds 4.2-4.8 by 3.2-3.4 by 2.5-3 mm, brown.

   Distribution — India (Assam, Kerala), Nepal, Bangladesh, China (Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hong Kong), Taiwan, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Vietnam, Thailand Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccas, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, E. Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands. Note the absence in Cambodia.

 

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    Habitat & Ecology — A pioneer species that occurs in many different, generally open habitats in primary wet evergreen to dry evergreen to deciduous to disturbed forest, beach forest, secondary montane forest, riparian forest, savannah, degraded scrub forest, thickets, village commons, fields; usually in wetter places, often along streams, mangrove edge, forest margins, roads; soils: on (peaty) sand, loam, clay, clay-loam, limestone, rock, coral reef, ultramafic. Altitude: sea-level up to 1500(-2350) m. Flowering: March-May, November; fruiting throughout the year. Fruits eaten by Oriolus birds. An invasive species in the Bonin Islands.

    Vernacular names ― Sumatra: Bintoeng, Bintoengan, Geroendjing, Gradjing, Kajoe sikkam, Kalek oeba, Kroendjing, Madangbienoengan; Kerindjing (Malay); Sikam (Timor); Singkam (Toba); Tingkem, Tjikam, Tjingham, Tjingkam, Tjinkam (Karo). Java: Gadok (Sundanese); Gendungan, Genlungan, Gi(e)ntoeng, Gintoengan. Borneo: Kalimantan: Bato (Dayak); Betoh; Sabah: Bongkoi; Kapas-kapas (Dusun-Kinabatangan); Tungou (Dusun); Sarawak: Buah jelintik, Merbak (Iban); Bual tu-arur (Kelabit). Philippines: Alimunos (East Cagayan); Guilon; Tuwod, Tuwol an aguyae (Ifugao). Sulawesi: Boeroenga, Kayawoe; Marintek (Tontembuan); Mau hal (Bunaq); Peti mati. Lesser Sunda Islands: Alor: Atait; Bali: Gintoengan; Flores: H. uwu, Na; Sumba: Memala (Wuijewa); Ternate: Simamo; Timor: Wattoeng. New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia): Dafoa (Itik & Mander); Defer (Berik); Goe (Karoon); Guddie (Kemtoek); Poem (Dani); Oewem, Wala (Mooi); Rikreu (Nemo); Senteroraar, Sentoroar, Sentroari, Toroep (Kebar); Sebie, Serbie, Siesemo (Manikiong); Papua New Guinea: Gugul (Utu); Gwek (Bembi); Keme (Kuman); Kena (Kopiago); Marramar (Miniafia, Utukap dial.); Morwar (Kaigorin); Nangum (Madang); Ruru (Wanigela); Simi (Rawa); Unai (Jal); Ur (Onjob, Koreaf dial.).

    Uses —Medicinal use in China (Hainan); fruits eaten in Borneo (Sarawak); wood used for firewood in New Guinea and for fencing (poles easily sprout!) in the Solomon Islands; in the latter and in Tonga the squeezed bark or the latex is used with charcoal as a brown or black dye and for tanning strings and fishing nets in New Guinea. In Tonga the stem is used for handicrafts.

    Note — Forman (1997) does not list Andrachne trifoliata (or any of the synonyms) in his list of possible Roxburgh type specimens or drawings. Specimens in Kew showing the name A. trifoliata have no original Roxburgh handwriting and one of them can at best be a neotype. Sanjappa et al. (1994) provide a list of Roxburgh drawings present in CAL. In their table 1 (titled ‘plates absent in Kew’) no. 1698 is a plate of A. trifoliata. Forman (1997) states that most of the plates absent in Kew do not depict Roxburgh species except those listed by him; unfortunately he missed A. trifoliata.

 

Excluded species

 

    Bischofia cummingiana Decne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde 4 (1844) 153. — Type: Cuming 1174 (holo P, not seen; iso L, M), Philippines, Manila. = Litsea (Lauraceae). Identified as L. glutinosa (Lour.) C.B.Rob. var. littoralis Koord. & Valeton in L, and as L. sebifera Pers. in M.

    NoteBischofia cummingiana is generally regarded as a synonym of B. javanica (e.g., Govaerts et al. 2000). Vidal y Soler (1885) interpreted Cumings collections, and he indicates that Cuming 1174 = B. javanica, and Cuming 1185 = Sterculia foetida L (with an asterisk that it can be B. javanica based on Müller 1866). It may well be that other duplicates are indeed Bischofia, but when Decaisne’s descriptions of the species are considered then a discrepancy appears, in most descriptions the leaflets (‘foliolis’) are mentioned, except for B. cummingiana, where Decaisne writes about leaves (‘foliis’). Thus, obviously the type of B. cummingiana is likely not Bischofia with its 3(5)-foliolate leaves. Cuming 1173 in L has on the label 1174? next to 1173, but this is a true B. javanica.