170 
Card. Bull. Singapore 69(2) 2017 
long, ovate, apex acuminate, velutinous. Leaves spiral, crowded toward the apices 
of the branchlets. Leaf blade elliptic to oblanceolate, 8—40 x 4-16 cm, apex acute to 
obtuse, base cuneate to rarely rounded, sometimes asymmetric, margins straight, blade 
chartaceous, secondary veins 11-16 pairs, curving and sometimes brochidodromous, 
tertiary veins scalariform-finely reticulate; upper surface green, glabrous with densely 
hairy midrib and secondary veins, midrib raised to sunken, secondary veins shallowly 
sunken, tertiary veins faint; lower surface glaucous, sparsely hairy to densely so on 
major veins, midrib and secondary veins raised, tertiary veins distinct. Petiole half- 
terete, 10-55 mm long, velutinous, glabrescent; hairs appressed to patent, yellowish. 
Inflorescence 1.5-3 cm long, formed of clusters of umbels along branchlets, velutinous, 
umbels 12-20 mm in diam.; bracts 4-5, suborbicular or broadly ovate, concave, 5-6 x 
4-5 mm, velutinous outside. Male flowers 5-6 in each umbel; tepals 9-12, lanceolate, 
unequal, 4-6 x 1.5-2 mm, sparsely hairy; stamens 24-30, unequal; filaments 2-5 mm 
long, sparsely hairy; anthers 1-1.5 mm long. Female flowers 5-6 in each umbel, tepals 
8—12, lanceolate, 2-3.1 x 1-1.3 mm, densely hairy; staminodes 26-30, linear, 1.5- 
3.8 mm long, sparsely hairy; ovary ovoid, 1-1.5 mm in diam., glabrous; style 1.5-2 
mm long; stigma peltate. Fruits (sub)globose, 1.6-2.2 x 2-2.1 cm, smooth, glabrous, 
glossy, red when mature; cupule shallow, 11-15 x 1.5-3 mm, sparsely hairy, margin 
entire, surface warty; fruiting pedicels 7-9.6 mm long, not swollen, 4.3-5.8 mm thick, 
sparsely hairy. 
Vernacular names. Medang taudok (Malay). 
Distribution. Peninsular Thailand, Malaysia (Peninsular and Borneo), Singapore, 
Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra and Java) and the Philippines. In Singapore, it has been 
collected only once, at Tanglin (H.N. Ridley s.n.. Upper Tanglin, behind barracks, 
1893). 
Ecology. Throughout its range in open areas in disturbed lowland forests, between 
0-750 m altitude. Flowering from February to June; fruiting from September to 
December. 
Conservation. Least Concern (LC) globally, this species is widespread and has been 
collected over a wide area in the last 20 years. In Singapore, it has only been collected 
once, in the late 19th century, and must therefore be considered to be nationally extinct. 
Notes. This species has not previously been recorded for Singapore, where it is only 
known from a single specimen, collected by H.N. Ridley in 1893, from upper Tanglin, 
behind the barracks. The species is common in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia 
and on the islands of the Sunda shelf and can occur in open areas as well as in disturbed 
forests. It is, therefore, not surprising that it used to grow in Singapore, but given that it 
can adapt to open vegetation, it is perhaps surprising that it no longer does. The species 
is very distinctive with its broad hairy leaves which are crowded near the apex of the 
young twigs. It is unlikely that it has been overlooked in botanical surveys. 
