Drepananthus Maingay ex Hook.f. & Thomson

Timothy M. A. Utteridge and Laura V. S. Jennings (2022). Trees of New Guinea. Kew Publishing. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Distribution

A genus of 26 species distributed from Indo-China to the Pacific; six species are found in New Guinea.

Note

Often treated as a section of Cyathocalyx, but Surveswaran et al. (2010) demonstrated that narrower generic limits are preferable, and all New Guinea species previously considered as Cyathocalyx are now within Drepananthus.

Morphology General Habit

Trees to 25 m

Morphology General Indumentum

Indumentum of stellate or simple hairs

Morphology Leaves

Leaves large, pubescent below

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences extra-axillary (or rarely leaf-opposed), racemose, short, fascicled on woody truncal tubercles. Flowers bisexual, fragrant; sepals 3, valvate, nearly free; petals 6, valvate, 2-seriate, subequal, bases concave, connivent, inner petals clawed at the base, limb erect or spreading, broad or narrow; stamens many, cuneate, truncate; anthers linear, cells lateral; connective not produced; carpels 1–32 per flower, ovules 1–10(–20) per carpel, 2-seriate, stigma subsessile

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit apocarpous; monocarps globose or ovoid, sessile or shortly stipitate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds several per monocarp, usually lacking an aril.

Ecology

Drepananthus is usually collected from primary lowland forest but also from swamp and secondary forest from sea level to 200 m, but also known from up to 600 m.

Recognition

The genus can be identified by the indumentum of stellate and simple hairs, the extra-axillary inflorescences, flowers with spoon-shaped valvate petals all similar in size and shape, with the inner petals coherent with bases tightly pressed over sexual organs and united and falling as a single unit, and ovules 1–10(–20) per carpel. It is most likely to be confused with Xylopia which also has the inner petals coherent and tightly pressed over the sexual organs but which are eventually separate (and then falling individually rather than as a unit as in Drepananthus).