Memecylon lilacinum

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Memecylon lilacinum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Genus: Memecylon
Species:
M. lilacinum
Binomial name
Memecylon lilacinum
Synonyms [1]
  • Memecylon capitellatum Blume, n.b. not Memecylon capitellatum L.
  • Memecylon confineBlume
  • Memecylon glomeratumBlume
  • Memecylon hepaticumBlume
  • Memecylon laevigatumBlume
  • Memecylon marginatumBlume
  • Memecylon myrsinoidesBlume
  • Memecylon myrtilliBlume
  • Memecylon nigrescens Miq.
  • Memecylon pachyderme Wall.
  • Memecylon pseudonigrescensBlume
  • Memecylon vosmaerianum Scheff.

Memecylon lilacinum is a tree species in the Melastomataceae family. It is usually an understorey species in closed forests. It is native to an area of tropical Asia, from Jawa to Philippines to Vietnam and the Andaman Islands and Myanmar. It is a food plant for the macaque Macaca facsicularis and a bee in the Megachilidae family.

Contents

Description

A perennial tree, growing 6-7m tall, sometimes to 25m. [2] [3] [4] It flowers in July and has fruit from October to May in Cambodia.

Taxonomy

This species has been identified by molecular phylogenetics using nuclear ribosomal DNA as being in a Malesian/Southeast Asian/Chinese clade with Memecylon caeruleum , Memecylon cantleyi , Memecylon pauciflorum , Memecylon plebujum , and Memecylon scutellatum . [5]

The species was described by the Swiss botanists Heinrich Zollinger (1818–59) and Alexandre Moritzi (1806-50).

Distribution

The species is native to an area from Jawa, Borneo and Philippines to Mainland Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. [1] Countries and regions that it is recorded from include: Indonesia (Jawa, Kalimantan, Sumatera); Philippines; Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia); Cambodia; [3] Vietnam; Myanmar; India (Andaman Islands).

Habitat and ecology

M. lilacinum grows in the lowland dipterocarp forest surrounding Lake Bera/Tasik Bera, Pahang, Malaysia. [4] This tall closed forest is dominated by the emergent Koompassia malaccensis and 30-40m tall canopy taxa Anisoptera scaphula , Ctenolophon parvifolius , Dipterocarpus cornutus , D. costulatus , D. crinitus , D. kerrii , Hopea mengerawan , Parashorea stellata , Payena lucida , Shorea curtisii ssp. curtisii, S. leprosula , S. ovalis , S. parvifolia and Vatica pauciflora . Common in the lower strata are Canarium littorale , Dyera costulata , Ixonanthes icosandra , Gluta elegans , and Endospermum diadenum .

Growing on sandbars along the east coast of peninsular Thailand (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Narathiwat Provinces), this taxa is found in the widespread Memecylon lilacinum- Vatica harmandiana community. [2] The 10m high canopy of this community is dominated by V. harmandiana, with Syzygium grande , Atalantia monophylla , Pittosporum ferruguineum and Memecylon edule common. The secondary tree layer (at 6-7m) is dominated by this tree, M. lilacinum . A shrub layer at 3-4m has Diospyros ferrea , Guioa pleuropteris and Euonymus cochinchinensis dominating, and is underlain by a herb layer up to 1m.

In the Khao Yai National Park, central Thailand, near Bangkok, the species is one of the most abundant in the Mo Singto study area forest. [6] The study area is primarily for the observation of white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar).

The Bokor Plateau at Preah Monivong National Park, southeastern Cambodia has a rare and significant flora of stunted forest and heathland, first studied by the famous Cambodian botanist Pauline Dy Phon. [7] This taxa, M. lilacinum occurs as a stunted tree in montane forest at 928m elevation.

The tree is a moderately abundant understorey plant in the mixed evergreen and deciduous, seasonal, hardwood forest along the Mekong river in Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, northeastern Cambodia. [3] It grows on soils there derived from metamorphic sandstone bedrock, at 25-30m altitude.

Macaca fascicularis ("crab-eating macaque"), has been observed eating the flowers and leaves of the plant, amongst hundreds of other plant species, in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore. [8]

The tree is a food plant for the Peninsular Malaysian bee species Chalicodoma (Alocanthedon) memecylonae , Hymenoptera, Megachilidae. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dipterocarpus</i> Genus of trees

Dipterocarpus is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae.

<i>Campylospermum serratum</i> Species of shrub or tree

Campylospermum serratum is a plant in the family Ochnaceae. The specific epithet serratum is from the Latin meaning "with teeth", referring to the leaf margin. It is found in Tropical Asia, from Sulawesi, Indonesia to Hainan, Zhōngguó/China and over to southwester India. Gomphia serrata was a previous common name for the species. The plant is used for it wood and its sap is used in folk medicine and in the past for teeth-blackening.

<i>Vatica harmandiana</i> Species of tree

Vatica harmandiana, also known by the synonym Vatica cinerea, is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is a smallish tree native to Southeast Asia. It is the most common plant species in certain types of mature woodland habitat within its range and is furthermore common in disturbed secondary forests covering much of its range, nonetheless it was considered, along with most Dipterocarpaceae, to be endangered by the IUCN between 1998 and 2017. It is usually not commercially harvested except for local use.

Ziziphus cambodiana is a deciduous thorny shrub, or vine, some 2–6 m tall, found growing in secondary undergrowth in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and northern Thailand.

<i>Dillenia pentagyna</i> Species of flowering plant

A small tree with tortuous twigs, Dillenia pentagyna is a member of the family Dilleniaceae, and is found from Sulawesi to South-Central China to India and Sri Lanka. Material from the tree has some minor uses.

Homalium brevidens is a shrub or tree species in the family Salicaceae, found in Laos and Cambodia.

Dendrolobium baccatum is a species of flowering plants in the Fabaceae family. A shrub, it occurs in Mainland Southeast Asia. People use it for food and fuel.

Utania racemosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae. It occurs in Southeast Asia from Sumatera in Indonesia to the Andaman Islands in India. Its wood is used for timber and fuel.

Mallotus floribundus is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae, in the Stylanthus section, native to Southeast Asia, Wallaceae, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Memecylon caeruleum is a shrub or tree species in the Melastomataceae family. It is found from New Guinea, west through Southeast Asia to Tibet, Zhōngguó/China. It has become an invasive weed in the Seychelles. It has some local use for wood and food.

Pantadenia adenanthera is a shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The species is used for its wood and edible fruit.

Samadera harmandiana is a freshwater mangrove shrub or small tree in the Simaroubaceae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The wood provides firewood. Certain fish eat the poisonous fruit

Stixis obtusifolia is a shrub or liana in the Resedaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The wood is used as fuel, the leaves as a tea.

<i>Xanthophyllum lanceatum</i> Species of tree in the Polygalaceae family from Southeast Asia

Xanthophyllum lanceatum is a tree in the Polygalaceae family. It grows across Southeast Asia from Sumatera to Bangladesh. The leaves are used as a hops-substitute in beer making and the wood as fuel. Fish in the Mekong regularly eat the fruit, flowers and leaves.

<i>Aporosa octandra</i> Tree species

Aporosa octandra is a species of plant in the family Phyllanthaceae found from Queensland and New Guinea to Indonesia, Zhōngguó/China and India. It is a highly variable plant with 4 named varieties. Its wood is used in construction and to make implements, its fruit is edible. The Karbi people of Assam use the plant for dyeing, textile colours have quite some significance in their culture.

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<i>Ampelocissus martini</i> Species of vine in the Vitaceae family

Ampelocissus martini is a species of climber or shrub in the Vitaceae family. Some sources use the spelling Ampelocissus martinii. It is native to an area of Mainland Southeast Asia. The fruit are eaten by people and by several species of Pangasiidae shark catfish of the Mekong river.

Memecylon cantleyi is a shrub or tree species in the Melastomataceae family. The flowers are white and vivid blue. The plant is native to an area from Borneo to Sumatra to Thailand. A name given to the tree in Malaysia, nipis kulit, translates as "calamondin bark".

Memecylon pauciflorum is a tree species in the Melastomataceae family. It grows as a tree or shrub in northern Australia and tropical and subtropical Asia. An understorey species typically, it grows in a variety of communities. The possum Petropseudes dahli uses this species as one of their scent-marking sites. It is a host to a number of funguses. People in Australia and in Thailand use the plant in folk medicine, though no efficacy has been demonstrated.

<i>Memecylon plebejum</i> Species of tree in the Melastomataceae family

Memecylon plebejum is a tree or shrub species in the Melastomataceae family. It grows in tropical Asia from Thailand to Myanmar, Assam (India) and Bangladesh. It favours slopes of hills and mountains, growing up to 1685m elevation, in the understorey of primary forests primarily. It hosts at least one fruit-fly and two parasitoid wasps. The wood is very hard to cut, making it difficult to use as firewood, but some people use it for agricultural tool handles.

References

  1. 1 2 "Memecylon lilacinum Zoll. & Moritzi". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 Suzuki, Kunio; Laongpol, Chukiat; Sridith, Kitichate (2005). "Phytosociological studies on vegetation of coastal dunes at Narathiwat, Thailand". Tropics. 14 (3): 229–44. doi: 10.3759/tropics.14.229 . hdl: 10131/6455 . Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Maxwell, James F. (2009). "Vegetation and vascular flora of the Mekong River, Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, Cambodia" (PDF). Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology. 3 (1): 143–211. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 Rafidah, A. R.; Chew, M. Y.; Ummul-Nazrah, A. R.; Kamaruddin, S. (2010). "The flora of Tasik Bera, Pahang, Malaysia" (PDF). Malayan Nature Journal. 62 (3): 249–306. Retrieved 22 April 2021.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Stone, Robert Douglas (2014). "The species-rich, paleotropical genus Memecylon (Melastomataceae): Molecular phylogenetics and revised infrageneric classification of the African species". Taxon. 63 (3, June): 539–561. doi: 10.12705/633.10 . Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Brockelman, Warren Y.; Nathalang, Anuttara; Gale, George A. (2011). "The Mo Singto Forest Dynamics Plot, Khao Yai National Park, Thailand". Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 57: 35–55.
  7. ↑ Rundel, Philip W.; Middleton, David J. (2017). "The fl ora of the Bokor Plateau, southeastern Cambodia: a homage to Pauline Dy Phon". Cambodian Journal of Natural History (1): 17–37. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Lucas, Peter W.; Corlett, Richard T. (1991). "Relationship between the diet of Macaca fascicularis and forest phenology". Folia Primatol. 57 (4): 201–15. doi:10.1159/000156587 . Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Engel, Michael S.; Gonzalez, Victor H. (2011). "Alocanthedon, a new subgenus of Chalicodoma from Southeast Asia (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae)". ZooKeys (101): 51–80. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.101.1182 . PMC   3118703 . PMID   21747670.
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