Merremia borneensis
Nomenclature
Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:
Merremia borneensis Merr., Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 15: 260. 1929
Description
Habit:
A large woody quite glabrous twiner, stems ca 2 cm diam.; branches terete, fistulose, warty by pale lenticels.
Leaves:
Leaves ± bullate, orbicular or ovate, (5–)8–22 × (3.5–)6–18 cm, base cordate, apex cuspidate with long and narrow mucronulate acumen, sometimes acuminate and less distinctly cuspidate; midrib and (6–)8–11 curved lateral nerves on either side prominent beneath, secondary nerves parallel, prominent beneath; tertiary nerves reticulate, conspicuous; petiole 4–11 cm long.
Inflorescences:
Inflorescence axillary; peduncle 6–12 cm long, several-flowered, lenticellate, cymosely branched towards the apex; pedicels 1.5–3 cm, angular, thickened above, especially in fruit; bracts caducous.
Flowers:
Flower buds ovoid to oblong, acute. Sepals elliptic to broadly elliptic, obtuse to slightly emarginate at the apex, mucronulate, (15–)18–22 mm long, the 2 outer ones leathery, the inner ones ± membranous, all slightly accrescent in fruit; corolla campanulate to funnel-shaped, 5.5–6 cm long, yellow, glabrous outside, inside papillose below the filament bases; filaments glabrous, the corolla inside above the insertion of the filaments with a semicircular thickening; ovary glabrous, 4-celled.
Fruits:
Capsule ovoid, ca 12 mm tall, mucronate, glabrous, black.
Seeds:
Seeds obolong-ovoid, ca 6–7 mm long, pale, appressed pilose.
References:
Ooststroom, Fl. Males. I, 4: 450–454. 1953.
Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History
Distribution Map:
Distribution:
Peninsular Malaysia (Terengganu), Borneo (Sabah, Kalimantan).
Ecology:
Forming
tangled masses over thickets, especially along small streams.
References:
Ooststroom, Fl. Males. I, 4: 450–454. 1953.
Other information
Common names and uses:
Pohon lapa gaga (Malay), akar larum, laran (Indoensian).
Authorship for webpage
Editor:
George Staples, Esmond Er
Contributors: