Callicarpa candicans

Family

Lamiaceae

Botanical Name

Callicarpa candicans (Burm.f.) Hochr.

Hochreutiner, B.P.G. (1934) Candollea 5: 190. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Urtica candicans Burm.f., Fl. Ind.: 197(1768), Type: Java, collector unknown. Callicarpa cana L., Mantissa Plantarum Altera: 198(1771), Type: Java, J. G. Konig s.n. Callicarpa adenanthera R.Br., Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae: 513(1810), Type: [given by A.A.Munir, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 6 (1982) 20 as R.Brown s.n., Queensland, 1802-05 (BM, K syntypes]. Callicarpa cana var. typica Bakh., Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg Series 3 3: 20(1921), Type: Java! Borneo! Timor! Australia!.

Common name

Great Woolly Malayan Lilac

Stem

Grows into a small tree not exceeding 30 cm dbh but also flowers and fruits as a shrub.

Leaves

Leaf blades variable, about 3.5-18 x 1.5-9 cm, petioles about 1.5-3.5 cm long, grooved on the upper surface. Lateral veins about 5-7 on each side of the midrib. Stellate hairs present on the leafy twigs, petioles and on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade, being quite abundant on the underside and much sparser on the upper surface where they tend to be concentrated on the midrib and lateral veins. Numerous pale yellow glands visible on the underside of the leaf blade.

Flowers

Peduncles, pedicels and outer surface of the calyx densely clothed in stellate hairs. Primary peduncles shorter than the petioles. Inner surface of the calyx glabrous. Corolla lobes glabrous but clothed in yellow glands on the outer surface, lobes about 1.4 x 2 m, tube about 2 mm long. Anther filaments about 4-8 mm long, purple, pollen cream or white, anthers clothed in yellow glands. Anthers about 1-1.1 x 0.6 mm. Ovary glabrous at the apex but clothed in yellow glands towards the base. Style long in female flowers and short in male flowers.

Fruit

Infructescences about as long as the petioles. Fruits globular, about 3 mm diam., glabrous, glandular, burgundy to purple in colour. Seeds about 2-3 x 1.1 mm. Embryo very small, cotyledons longer than the radicle.

Seedlings

Cotyledons orbicular or wider than long, about 3-4 x 3-4.5 mm. First pair of true leaves obovate, margin usually toothed sometimes with only one or two teeth on each side. At the tenth leaf stage: stem, petiole and the underside of the leaf blade clothed in pale stellate hairs. Pale glands also visible on the underside of the leaf blade.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in WA, NT, CYP, NEQ and southwards as far as coastal central Queensland. Altitudinal range from sea level to 400 m. Grows in disturbed areas in rain forest, gallery rain forest, vine thickets, monsoon forest and drier, more seasonal rain forest. Also occurs in Asia and Malesia.

Natural History

A slow growing species that is cultivated as a shrub for the pinkish to purple flowers and fruits. This species is a fish poison. (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~djw/K.html)