Argyreia laotica

Nomenclature

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:

Argyreia laotica Gagnep., Not. Syst. 3: 134. 1915.

Synonyms:

Misapplied name: Argyreia splendens sensu authors not of (Hornem.) Sweet: e.g., R.C. Fang & S.H. Huang, Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin. 64(1): 131. 1979; R.C. Fang & Staples, Fl. China 16: 318. 1995, p.p.; Traiperm, Tax. Study Argyreia Thailand 75. 2002; Staples et al., Thai For. Bull. (Bot.) 33: 8i174. 2005.

Description

Habit:

Woody twiner, axial parts appressed pilose, later glabrescent; stems 2–6 m tall.

Leaves:

Leaves ovate, lanceolate, or oblongish, 8–17 by 2.5–7 cm, base rounded, cuneate, or emarginate, apex acute or acuminate, upper side glabrous with prominent veins, underside densely silvery to coppery sericeous; lateral veins 7–10 per side; petiole 1.5–8 cm.

Inflorescences:

Inflorescences axillary or subterminal, 6–10-flowered, subumbellate; peduncle 0.2–1 cm; bracts lanceolate-oblong, 0.5–0.7 cm, sericeous, persistent; pedicels 3–4 mm.

Flowers:

Flower sepals very unequal, outside shaggy-hairy, inside glabrous, outer 2 ovate-elliptic, 12–15 by 10 mm, apex undulate, inner 3 oblong-elliptic, c. 7 by 3 mm; corolla funnelform, 4.5–5 cm long, tube gibbous, limb wavy, mauve to lavender, darker in tube, outside appressed hirsute, otherwise glabrous; stamens included, unequal, 18.5–24 mm, insertion villose, anthers sagittate; pistil included, ovary acute, 4-celled, apex minutely sericeous, style c. 25 mm, jointed near base.

Fruits:

Berry globose, 8–10 mm diam., bright red; fruiting calyx wide-spreading, sepals concave, rose-red inside.

Author:

Staples, G. & P. Traiperm.

References:

Staples, G. & P. Traiperm. 2010. Argyreia in Convolvulaceae. Fl. Thailand 10(3): 337–371.

Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History

Distribution Map:

Distribution:

China, Thailand, Laos.

Ecology:

Often in shady
places beneath trees or bamboo. There are frequently biting ants associated
with the inflorescences of A. laotica:
the ants cluster all over the stems, peduncles, petioles, and sepals—the
slightest disturbance induces them to bite aggressively.

Author:

Staples, G. & P. Traiperm.

References:

Staples, G. & P. Traiperm. 2010. Argyreia in Convolvulaceae. Fl. Thailand 10(3): 337–371.

Other information

General comments:

The name A. splendens has been often misapplied to this species, including in the Thai flora; genuine A. splendens does not occur in Thailand so far as known.

The hairs covering the outside of the midpetaline bands and upper corolla tube are of 2 distinct types: long, stiff, yellowish hairs curved like a bow and closely appressed to the corolla; and shorter, crimped, erect-patent whitish hairs that form an undercoat beneath them.