256 
Card. Bull. Singapore 69(2) 2017 
laterally, c. 20 mm ventrally; lobes elliptic with rounded apex, upper lobes 3.5—4.5 x 
6 mm, lateral lobes 5-6 x 6 mm, lower lobe 5-6 x 5.5 mm. Stamens arising c. 11 mm 
above the corolla base, filaments straight, sparsely eglandular hairy, c. 3 mm long, c. 
0.3 mm diameter; anthers pale, with a dimorphic indumentum of long purple hairs 
pointing upwards and short straight white hairs pointing down, arising from the base 
of the anther, anthers c. 1.5 x 1.5 mm, apically joined by a connective, thecae slightly 
divergent; staminodes 2, 0.4 mm long, arising 7.5 mm above the corolla base. Disk 
annular, slightly lobed, 0.4-0.6 mm tall. Pistil c. 15 mm long; ovary c. 6 mm long, 
glabrous or finely glandular at base, eglandular hairy in the upper 1/3; style curved, 
c. 6 mm long, hairy; stigma lower lip elongate, 1.2-1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide. Fruit 
straight or occasionally slightly curved, c. 5-6 cm long, narrow, with sparse glands 
along most its length and eglandular hairs terminally. Seeds not seen. 
Distribution. Central and eastern Thailand. Possibly also occurring in Nakhon 
Ratchasima (photos from Sukonthip Sirimongkol seen). 
Habitat. “On sandy soil in deciduous forest”. Habitat data are missing from most 
collections of this species but it is noteworthy that the collection localities appear to 
be from areas that do not have karst limestone or a limestone bedrock. This makes it 
unusual in the genus. 
Provisional IUCN conservation assessment. Data Deficient DD. There are rather few 
collections of this species and many of these are more than 40 years old. Further 
collections are needed in the Khao Yai and Sisaket areas to set a conservation 
assessment. 
Additional specimens seen. Unknown province: Cultivated at Cornell University, Ithaca, 
originally from Montreal Botanical Garden, 23 Oct 1958, Moore, J.R. 7685 (E); Cult. RBGE, 
received from Smitinand, C3797 (E); Cult. RBGE, received from Frankfurt BG in 1964, Sep 
1964, C4327 (E). THAILAND: Nakhon Nayok: Suvatabundha, K., s.n. (BK); Muang, Nahng 
Rawng falls [Nang Rong Waterfall], 16 Sep 1972, Maxwell, J.F. 72-355 (AAU, BK); ibidem, c. 
100 m, 22 Oct 1960, Smitinand, T. 6984 (A, E, K). Sisaket: Kantalak, Panomdongrak Wildlife 
Sanctuary, Samrong Kiat Waterfall, 300 m, 21 Oct 2003, Palee, P. 647 (CMU). 
Notes. Microchirita micromusa is similar to M. elphinstonia, from which it differs in 
the orange patch in the corolla and in the clearly dimorphic anther indumentum. Burtt 
named it “micromusa” because M. Raymond described the fruits as “a miniature hand 
of bananas” (Burtt, 1960). However, short, curved fruits are rather more characteristic 
of another yellow-flowered species, Microchirita bimaculata, than of M. micromusa. 
There has been some confusion between the two species, resulting in many specimens 
of M. bimaculata from Northern Thailand being misidentified as M. micromusa. 
Microchirita micromusa is distributed in Central and Eastern Thailand and is not 
known to overlap with the distribution of M. bimaculata. 
