The Macaranga Tanarius group
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Twigs fairly stout, angular. Stipules papery, persistent, usually spreading or recurved. Leaves ovate to ovate oblong, often caudate, base rounded and profoundly peltate, with spider's web nervation, the minor nerves scalariform. Staminate inflorescences amongst leaves, with 2–3 axis orders, axes flattish, pubescent (except M. tsonane) at least distally, peduncle under half inflorescence length (except M. tsonane), main branches usually alternate, sometimes with some axillary branches, often arising from a flower cluster; bracteoles ovate, often cucullate, larger than and loosely enclosing usually many-flowered cluster (except M.harveyana, M. nusatenggarensis), margin usually dentate to pectinate, occasionally fimbriate, apex usually acute or acuminate, papery, usually pubescent, nerved (except M. brachytricha, M. clavata, M. salomonensis), spreading, persistent. Infructescences spikea (racemes in M. brachytricha, M. tentaculata), with a few clustered apical fruits. Fruits usually weakly bilobed, woody, with spines, granular glandular (except M. brachytricha, M. clavata).
Notes — 1. This group is centred on New Guinea which has a cluster of closely similar species. Macaranga tanarius, which is highly variable, is the widest ranging of all Macaranga species, extending from Thailand to the Pacific margin.
2. The core of this group can be found in Section Eumappa (Rchb.f. & Zoll.) Pax & K.Hoffm.
3. I have revised my former view (Whitmore, Kew Bull., Addit. Ser.8, 1980: 134), and now include here M. quadriglandulosa. Also, I have separated out as the Mappa group many species that I formerly included.
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M. brachytricha Airy Shaw |
New Guinea |
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M. clavata Warb. |
Moluccas (Kai), New Guinea |
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M. darbyshirei Airy Shaw |
New Guinea |
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M. harveyana (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg. |
Fiji, Samoa, Tonga |
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M. herculis Whitmore |
New Guinea |
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M. lineata Airy Shaw |
New Guinea |
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M. minahassae Whitmore |
Sulawesi |
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M. nusatenggarensis Whitmore |
Lesser Sunda Islands |
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M. pilosula Airy Shaw |
New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
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M. quadriglandulosa Warb. var. quadriglandulosa |
New Guinea |
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M. quadriglandulosa Warb. var. variabilis L.M.Perry |
New Guinea |
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M. salomonensis L.M.Perry |
New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
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M. tanarius (L.) Müll.Arg. var. tanarius |
Thailand, scattered through Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu |
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M. tanarius (L.) Müll.Arg. var. tomentosa (Blume)Müll.Arg. |
Continental Asia, all Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu |
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M. tentaculata Airy Shaw |
New Guinea |
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M. tsonane Whitmore |
New Guinea |
Note — Non Malesian taxa are not hyperlinked to descriptions.
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1a. |
Twigs slender, only 3 mm diam., at first golden furfuraceous. Stipules narrowly ovate-elliptic, to 14 by 4 mm long, apex acuminate, occasionally caudate. Staminate bracteoles smaller than flower cluster, only 2 by 2 mm — Lesser Sunda Islands |
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1b. |
Otherwise: twigs stouter, stipules relatively broader and not caudate. Staminate bracteoles larger than flower clusters (except M. harveyana) |
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2a. |
Stipules triangular to oblong triangular, 20–50 by 15–20 mm, ochreous pubescent. Staminate inflorescences narrow sparsely branched, 25 cm racemes with 9(–15) cm peduncle; bracteoles irregularly dentate to crenate. Fruits 4 lobed with minute persistent stigmas — Sulawesi |
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2b. |
Otherwise |
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3a. |
Leaves above with dense small clustered hairs, below all nerves with clustered and simple hairs — New Guinea |
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3b. |
Leaves with hairs simple not clustered, usually glabrous above or hairy just on main nerves |
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4a. |
Stipules very strongly cucullate, ovate acute 15 x 14mm, erect. Plant entirely glabrous, leaves variably glaucous below — New Guinea |
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4b. |
Stipules otherwise. Plant usually hairy at least in part, leaves below glaucous or not |
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5a. |
Stipules broader or as broad as long, triangular, acute, base often broadly auriculate. Fruit spines with roundish clublike tips — Moluccas (Kai Island), New Guinea |
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5b. |
Stipules otherwise, much longer than broad |
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6a. |
Leaves below glaucous |
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6b. |
Leaves not glaucous |
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7a. |
Stipules 10 by 8 mm. Fruits initially subtended by 1 cm diam. leafy bracts — New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
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7b. |
Stipules 25–40 by 8–15 mm. Infructescences without such bracts. Stipules, petioles and twigs (at least at first) glaucous |
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8a. |
Stipules without a central nerve, elongate-triangular, 25 x 8(–40 x 15mm), margins usually revolute, stiffly papery — New Guinea |
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8b. |
Stipules with a central nerve, ovate oblong, 25 by 14 mm, flat, membranous — New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
123. M. pilosula (sometimes) |
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9a. |
Leaves below without granular glands. Stipules ovate-oblong, 25 by 7 mm, apex acuminate, base auriculate, with a central nerve — New Guinea |
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9b. |
Leaves below with (sometimes tiny inconspicuous) granular glands. Stipules otherwise |
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10a. |
Stipules 45 by 14 mm — New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
123. M. pilosula (sometimes) |
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10b. |
Stipules not exceeding 25 by 9 mm |
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11a. |
Stipules 25 by 9 mm. Fruit spines tentacle-like, slender sinuous 6–8 mm with a swollen apical gland — New Guinea |
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11b. |
Stipules not longer than 15(–20) mm. Fruit spines without a swollen apical gland |
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12a. |
Leaves densely velvety below with dense short spreading hairs on all nerves, above with crisped hairs on main nerves. Fruit spines slightly flattened, ending in an elongate clublike gland — New Guinea |
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12b. |
Leaves glabrous or sparsely hairy below, glabrous above |
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13a. |
At least some leaves, and usually all, with (1–)3–8 large flat glands on lower main nerves between petiole insertion and margin. Staminate bracteoles entire. Fruiting pedicel 8 mm |
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13b. |
Leaves without such glands. Staminate bracteole margins toothed or ciliate, rarely entire. Fruiting pedicel 2 mm |
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14a. |
Leaves 1–4 cm peltate — New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
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14b. |
Leaves not peltate — New Guinea |
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15a. |
Stipules with a (faint) central nerve. Twigs, stipules outside and sometimes petioles glaucous. Staminate bracteoles smaller than cluster, not nerved — Solomon Islands and Fiji eastwards |
M. harveyana |
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15b. |
Stipules without a central nerve. Plant not glaucous. Staminate bracteoles larger than cluster, usually nerved |
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16a. |
Twigs and stipules glabrous. Petioles and leaves pubescent but very soon becoming glabrous. Staminate inflorescences including bracteoles glabrous. Staminate bracteoles not exceeding 6 by 3 mm. Fruits glabrous —Thailand, Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu |
163. M. tanarius var. tanarius |
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16b. |
Twigs and stipules finely pubescent or furfuraceous (sometimes becoming glabrous). Petioles, leaves and staminate inflorescences including bracteoles furfuraceous to finely pubescent. Staminate bracteoles sometimes 12 by 13 mm. Fruits granular glandular — continental Asia, Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu |