Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes

Family

Apocynaceae

Botanical Name

Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes (K.D.Hill) P.I.Forst. & Liddle

Forster, P.I. & Liddle, D. (1991) Austrobaileya 3(3): 512. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Hoya oligotricha subsp. tenuipes K.D.Hill, Telopea 3(2): 254(1989), Type: Queensland, Pascoe River Rockpile, 16.9.1978, B. Wallace 83252, holo: NSW; iso: BRI, K, L.

Stem

A slender vine not exceeding a stem diameter of 2 cm.

Leaves

Twigs, petioles and leaves produce a milky exudate. Leaf blades thick and fleshy, about 5-10 x 3-6 cm, petioles about 1-3.5 cm long. Colleters (small finger-like glands) present on the upper surface of the midrib near its junction with the petiole. Venation difficult to discern but lateral veins appear to form loops inside the blade margin.

Flowers

Inflorescence an umbelliform raceme on a stout peduncle about 25 mm long. Flowers about 10-11 mm diam., pedicels about 25 mm long. Calyx lobes narrowly triangular, about 3 mm long. Corolla tube about 3 mm long, corolla lobes recurved, about 6.5 mm long. Stamens fused to form a staminal column about 3 mm long. Anthers with a terminal appendage about 0.8 mm long. Pollen aggregated in pollinia, 2 in each anther. One pollinium of each anther is joined to a pollinium in the adjacent anther by means of a translator. Pollinia about 0.8 mm long. Style head about 1.5 mm long.

Fruit

Fruits elongate, about 12-16.5 x 0.6 cm. Seeds numerous, each seed about 4-5 mm long. Plumes about 14-15 mm long or up to 30 mm long. Embryo about 3.5-4 mm long, cotyledons about 2 mm long slightly longer and wider than the radicle which is about 2 mm long.

Seedlings

Cotyledons about 7-12 x 3-5 mm, petioles about 1-2 mm long. First true leaf blade about 15-17 x 11 mm, petioles about 4-5 mm long.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 400 m. Grows in well developed lowland rain forest or swamp forest, well suited by rocks or boulders. Also occurs in New Guinea.