A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

350
A FLORA OF MANILA
1. L. racemosa Willd. Solasi (Tag., in Paranaque and Maricaban),
A shrub or a small tree, flowering when 1 m high or less. Leaves
fleshy, green, shining, narrowly obovate, 2.5 to 7 cm long, apex rounded,
retuse, gradually narrowed to the acute base, short-petioled. Racemes
axillary, 2 to 6 cm long. Calyx oblong-cylindric, green, 5 to 6 mm long,
the teeth short. Petals white, oblong, about 4 mm long. Stamens 10,
as long as the petals. Fixiit green, oblong, about 1.5 cm long, crowned by
the persistent calyx-i'im. (Fl. Filip. pi. 126.)
Along tidal streams, Maricaban, Parafiaque, etc., fl. Dec-Mar., here
2 m high or less; occasional in similar habitats in the Philippines. Trop-
ical shores of Africa and Asia, through Malaya to Australia and Polynesia.
The one other species found in the Philippines, L. littorea (Jack) Voigt
(L. coccinea W. & A.), is distinguished by its terminal inflorescence,
crimson flowers, and its stamens about twice as long as its petals; it has
not been found in our area, but is much the commoner species of the two in
the Philippines.
4. COMBRETUM' Linnaeus
Scandent shrubs or suberect with pendulous branches. Leaves opposite,
entire, petioled. Flowers usually in panicled spikes or racemes, polygamodioecious,
bracteoles small. Calyx-tube slender below, slightly contracted
above the ovary, then expanded and ovoid, funnel-shaped, or tubular, the
limb 4- or 5-toothed. Petals 4 or 5, insei'ted on the calyx-limb, small.
Stamens twice as many as the petals, inserted in 2 series. Ovary inferior,
1-celled; ovules 2 to 5. Fruit indehiscent, dry, 4- or 5-winged. (A Latin
name of uncertain application.)
Species about 130, tropics generally, 4 in the Philippines.
1. C. squamosum Roxb.
A scandent shrub reaching a length of 5 m or more. Leaves opposite,
elliptic-ovate, glabrous on the upper surface, beneath covered with small
round scales, apex acute or shortly acuminate, base rounded, 8 to 16 cm
long. Inflorescence 6 to 15 cm long, axillary, of racemosely arranged scaly
spikes, the spikes 3 to 6 cm long. Flowers white, the calyx-tube slender
below, expanded above, the limb about 4 mm long, funnel-shaped. Petals
small. Fruit 2 to 2.5 cm long, broadly 4-winged.
In thickets, Masambong, fl. Dec-Jan.; widely distributed in the Philippines.
India to Malaya.
103. MYRTACEAE ^ (Myrtle or Duhat Family)
Trees or shrubs with opposite, rarely alternate, simple, entire or toothed,
often pellucid-dotted leaves, exstipulate, or stipules very small and decid-
uous. Flowers regular, perfect, solitary, or in spikes, corymbs, or heads.
Calyx 4- or 5-toothed or lobed, the limb persistent or deciduous. Petals
free, or sometimes united into a disk-like operculum, alternating with the
calyx-lobes, or rarely wanting. Stamens very many, rarely few, inserted on
the disk with the petals. Ovary inferior, 1- to many-celled; ovules num-
erous; style simple. Fruit fleshy or capsulai", indehiscent or dehiscent, 1to
many-seeded.
^ For the Philippine species of this family see Robinson, C. B., "A Prelim-
inary Revision of Philippine Myrtaceae." Philip. .Journ. Sci. 4 (1909)
Bot. 331-407.