This raises a question. Dischidia bengalensis Henry Thomas Colebrooke, published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 12, p357, t. 15, (1818.) A brief description in Fl. Brit. India 4(10), p50, (1885). biodiversitylibrary.org/page/388580#page/54/mode/1up Probably myrmecophytic (Kaufmann 2002) and a true ant-garden inhabitant (Orivel & Leroy 2011.) Stems succulent to 4 mm Ø, and leaves that are unique in the genus being “flat in x-section and oblanceolate in outline, with a retuse apex and entire margins. As these leaves age they become nearly round in x-section and obtuse at the apex” thus comprising a fourth type not shown in the three Dischidia sections. A true ant-garden epiphyte according to (Kaufmann 2002.) Habitat. Common from sea level to one record of 1700 m (5578 ft.) on Gunung Tahan, Peninsular Malaysia but less common in dense forest. Range. N. E. India (Assam), S. Thailand, S. Burma, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java. Sulawesi, Moluccas, Philippines, New Guinea and its Bismarck Archipelago. (Rintz 1980). Dischidia litoralis Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter published in Die Flora der Deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Südsee p359, (1905.) biodiversitylibrary.org/page/451883#page/357/mode/1up . Reduced to synonymy of D. bengalensis by (Rintz 1980) but see Forster & Liddle, Resurrection of Dischidia litoralis Schltr. (1992.) This is not an ant-plant and it is sometimes a seaside inhabitant (litoralis means of the sea shore) and occurring as it does on tiny Australian islands e.g. Dauan Island in Torres Strait (why it is included here.) It also occurs in Madang and Morobe Provinces in Papua New Guinea.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 07:16:10 +0000
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