314 
MERRILL. 
CHONEMORPHA G. Don. 
Chonemorpha elastica sp. nov. 
Frutex alte scandens, ramis ramulisque rubro-bninneis, glabris; foliis 
membranaceis vel submembranaceis ovato-ellipticis vel obovato-ellipticis, 
15 ad 20 cm longis, breviter acuminatis, basi rotundatis, subtus plus 
minus pilosis ; floribus albis, 2.5 ad 3 cm diametro; calycibus 5-partitis. 
A scandent shrub of large size. Branches and branchlets reddish- 
brown, glabrous, usually shining. Leaves opposite, membranaceous or 
submembranaceous, ovate-elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 15 to 20 cm long, 8 
to 15 cm wide, entire, the base rather broad, rounded, the apex shortly 
acuminate, the upper surface glabrous, slightly shining, the lower surface 
slightly paler and somewhat pilose; petioles rather slender, 2.5 to 4 cm 
long; nerves about 10 on each side of the midrib, distinct on both surfaces, 
the reticulations very distinct beneath. Cymes terminal, few-flowered, 
about 6 cm long, glabrous or nearly so, the bracteoles more or less pubes- 
cent, about 3 mm long. Flowers white, fragrant, their pedicels slender, 
1 cm long or less. Calyx 5-partite, the lobes oblong, somewhat acuminate, 
the margins above somewhat ciliate, about 5 mm long, 2 mm wide, united 
below. Corolla-tube 9 to 10 mm long, swollen and about 3 mm in diam- 
eter in the lower third, contracted above, glabrous outside, inside with 
reflexed hairs below the insertion of the stamens; lobes 5, obliquely 
obovate, spreading, about 15 cm long, 12 mm wide. Stamens 5, the fila- 
ments short, inserted at about the lower one-fourth of the tube; anthers 
narrowly-lanceolate, acuminate, 4 mm long, sagittate at the base. Disk 
entire, truncate, 1 mm high. Ovaries and style 4 mm long, the ovaries 
two, free, united by the style ; ovules many. Fruit unknown. 
Mindanao, District of Zamboanga, Dumanquilas Bay, Tigbalubu, For. Bur. 
12351 Hutchinson, May, 1908, in forests at an altitude of about 40 m: District 
of Davao, H. S. Peabody, July, 1906, leaves only. Basilan, P. L. Sherman, July, 
1903, leaves only; also reported from Mindanao and from Tawi-Tawi by Sherman. 
So far as is known at present this is the most, important rubber producing 
vine in the Philippines. It is one of the two species considered by P. L. Sherman 
in his paper on “Gutta-Percha and Rubber in the Philippine Islands,” 12 and an 
illustration is given by him, 1. c. fig. 33, of leaf specimens collected on Basilan 
Island. This specimen, as well as the one collected by Mr. Peabody, cited above, 
were previously provisionally identified as Chonemorpha, but the determination 
could not be verified until flowering specimens were received. Mr. Sherman 
reports this vine from Mindanao, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, but states that only 
the natives of Tawi-Tawi understand the commercial value of the product, and 
that they gather the latex and mix it with gutta-percha. No information is at 
hand as to the amount exported, but it is probably very small. According to Mr. 
Sherman’s notes, the vine attains a length of. from 150 to 200 feet, and a diameter 
of from 6 to 8 inches. 
Apparently allied to Chonemorpha griffithii Hook, f., of British India, especially 
in its deeply cleft calyx, but the branches not hispid. Without comparison with 
the type of Hooker’s species, it is impossible to give other differential characters, 
ns Hooker’s description is too short and imperfect. 
12 Publications of the Bureau of Government Laboratories, 7 (1903), 36-39. 
