New and Rare Malayan Plants. Series VIII.
By H. N. Ridley, F.R.S.
Herewith I give an account of some additions to the Flora of the Malay Peninsula, with notes on species insufficiently or incorrectly described, in continuation of the Series previously described in the Journal.
Ryparosa Wallichil, n. sp. (Biraceæ). A tree; branches when young covered with red hair. Leaves glabrous above, coriaccous, lanceolate-oblong, base slightly narrowed, apex acute, pale whitish beneath, 8-9 inches long. 2 inches wide, the nerves five pairs, elevated, ascending, often hairy beneath: midrib also hairy; petiole 1.5 inches long, hairy. Male racemes axillary or from the trunk of the tree, 6-8 inches long; bracts small, lanceolate; pedicels 25 inches long. Flowers 2 inches long, yellow. Sepals 5, short, ovate, hairy. Petals rounded, hairy, much larger than the sepals, with the scale inside about half as long, and hairy. Staminal column glabrous: anthers 4, oblong.
Singapore: Gardens' jungle (Ridley). Penang: "A climber from the hills, October" (Wallich 7847B); Herb. Finlayson (Wallich 7847A).
Wallich's specimens are like the Botanic Gardens ones—male, but with young spikes, axillary and quite short. Those from the Gardens' jungle were fully developed and borne on the trunk. Wallich describes it as a climber from the Penang hills; but it has not been collected again, and as no species of the genus is a climber, it is possible that the label is wrongly affixed. The species is chiefly remarkable for its narrow leaves and hairy inflorescence.
Xanthophyllum puberulum, n. sp. (Polygalaceæ). A large shrub with pubescent branches. Leaves oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, cuspidate, shortly narrowed at the base, thinly coriaccous, 5.5 to 8 inches long, 2-25 to 2.75 inches broad, nerves 5 to 6 pairs, elevate beneath; reticulations large, all pubescent: petiole 25 inches long. Flowers white, in short terminal panicles 2 to 3 inches long, pubescent: branches few. Sepals unequal, ovate obtuse, minutely pubescent. Petals spathulate, glabrous: keel slightly pubescent. Stamens glabrous except at the base. Ovary villous, stipitate; ovules 4.
Selangor: by the stream at Klang Gates (Ridley 13396). Dindings: at Lumut (Ridley 10366). Flowering in August.
