''Goniothalamus undulatus'' is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Thailand and Vietnam. Henry Nicholas Ridley, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the wavy ( in Latin) edges of its leaves.

Description

It is a bush reaching 1.5 meters in height. Its oblong, hairless leaves are 17.8 by 7 centimeters with wedge shaped bases, cusped tips and wavy margins. The leaves have 11 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles are 1 centimeters long and covered in fine hairs. Its flowers are born on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

that are 2.5 centimeters long. Its 3 red, oval, ribbed, hairy sepals are 0.6 centimeters long. Its flowers have 6 petals arranged in two rows of three. Its red, leathery, oval to lance-shaped, hairy outer petals are 1.5 - 3.2 by 0.6-1.75 centimeters long. The margins of the outer petals are rolled back. Its triangular, hairy inner petals are 0.9 - 1.25 centimeters long. Its flower have 10-54

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

. Its fruit have stipes that are 6.5-16 millimeters long.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''G. undulatus'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in evergreen forests at elevations of 50 to 700 meters.

Uses

Bioactive molecules extracted from its roots have been reported to be

cytotoxic Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating cells ...

in tests with cultured human cancer cell lines.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15359466 undulatus Flora of Thailand Flora of Vietnam Plants described in 1920 Taxa named by Henry Nicholas Ridley