IX. c, 3 Merrill: Isloteworthy Philippine Plants 277 



LORANTHACEAE 



LORANTHIS Linnaeus 

 LORANTHUS LUCIDUS sp. nov. § Dendrophthoe. 



Frutex parasiticus, subscandens, glaber, ramis ramulisque te- 

 retibus; foliis oppositis vel suboppositis, usque ad 12 cm longis, 

 breviter petiolatis, oblongo-ovatis ad lanceolatis, utrinque valde 

 nitidis, longe acute acuminatis, basi late rotundatis cordatisque 

 rariter subobtusis ; inflorescentiis terminalibus et in axillis supe- 

 rioribus, 5 ad 10 cm longis, floribus 6-meris, circiter 1.6 cm longis, 

 in triadibus dispositis, lateralibus pedicellatis, intermedio sessile, 

 triadibus racemose dispositis. 



A parasitic shrub, apparently somewhat scandent along its 

 host, glabrous, the branches stout, terete, gray, slightly lenti- 

 cellate, the younger ones somewhat reddish-brown, smooth. 

 Leaves opposite or subopposite, coriaceous, oblong-ovate to lan- 

 ceolate, normally 8 to 12 cm long, 3.5 to 5 cm wide, broadly 

 rounded and prominently cordate at the base, exceptionally lan- 

 ceolate, 1.5 to 3 cm wide, and subobtuse at the base, prominently 

 shining on both surfaces, gradually narrowed upward to the 

 long and sharply acuminate apex; lateral nerves 6 to 8 on each 

 side of the midrib, slender, indistinct; petioles 3 to 7 mm long. 

 Inflorescence terminal and in the uppermost axils, 5 to 10 cm 

 long, the axis and lateral branches gray, obscurely furfuraceous, 

 composed of racemosely disposed triads. Lateral branches of 

 the panicles (peduncles of the triads), spreading, 1 cm long or 

 less, each bearing a central sessile fertile flower, and two lateral 

 flowers, each flower subtended by a broadly ovate, acute or acu- 

 minate bracteole as long as the calyx, the pedicels of the lateral 

 flowers 4 to 5 mm long. Flowers 6-merous. Calyx subcylindric, 

 3 mm long, truncate, the rim not produced, very minutely and 

 obscurely 6-denticulate. Corolla about 1.3 cm long, the basal 

 part somewhat inflated, about 3 mm in diameter, the lobes united 

 for the lower 2 mm, narrow, very slender upward, the reflexed 

 part above the insertion of the stamen spatulate, 5 mm long. 

 Filament very slender, 3 mm long; anther narrowly oblong, 

 continuous, 2 mm long. Fruit very soft and fleshy, ovoid, about 

 8 mm long. 



Luzon, Province of Laguna, San Antonio (Dahican River), Bur. Sci. 

 16647 Ramos, September 16, 1912, parasitic on Worcesteranthus, in forests. 



A species in the same group with Loranthus ahemianus, L. acuminatis- 

 simus, L. saccatus, and L. ovatifolius, differing from the first three in its 

 very much smaller flovsrers, and other characters, and from the latter in its 

 very different vegetative and floral characters. 



