''Pseuduvaria galeata'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family Annonaceae. It is a tree

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

. James Sinclair, the Scottish botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the dome formed by inner petals shaped like a helmet ( in Latin).

Description

It is a tree reaching 8 meters in height. The young, yellow to brown branches are very densely hairy, but become hairless with maturity. Its elliptical, papery to slightly leathery leaves are 8.5-17.5 by 3–6.5 centimeters. The leaves have wedge-shaped to rounded bases and tapering tips, with the tapering portion 3-14 millimeters long. The leaves are hairless except for the midribs which are slightly hairy on their upper side and very densely hairy on their underside. The leaves have 10-16 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its very densely hairy petioles are 3-8 by 1–2.5 millimeters with a broad groove on their upper side. Its solitary

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s occur on branches, and are organized on indistinct peduncles. Each inflorescence has up to 1-2 flowers. Each flower is on a very densely hairy

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

that is 10-25 by 0.6-1.1 millimeters. The pedicels are organized on a rachis up to 5 millimeters long that have 2

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The pedicels have a medial, very densely hairy

that is 1-2 millimeters long. Its flowers are unisexual. Its flowers have 3 free, triangular

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

, that are 2–3.5 by 3-3.5 millimeters. The sepals are hairless on their upper surface, densely hairy on their lower surface, and hairy at their margins. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The pink, egg-shaped to elliptical, outer petals are 3.5-7 by 3–5.5 millimeters with hairless upper and very densely hairy lower surfaces. The pink, diamond-shaped inner petals have a 7-9 millimeter long claw at their base and a 12-13 by 5.5-9 millimeter blade. The inner petals have pointed bases and tips. The inner petals are sparsely hairy on their upper surfaces and densely hairy on lower surfaces. The male flowers have up to 103-111

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s that are 1.2-1.4 by 0.5-0.7 millimeters. The female flowers have up to 24

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'' ...

that are 1.8-2.1 by 0.7-1 millimeters. Each carpel has 3-4

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

s arranged in two rows. The female flowers have up to 14 sterile stamen. The fruit occur in clusters of 12-22 that are organized on indistinct peduncles. The fruit are attached by densely hairy pedicles that are 16-26 by 1–2.5 millimeters. The green, globe-shaped fruit are 7-14 by 5-13 millimeters. The fruit have a 0.1-0.7 pointed tip. The fruit are smooth, and densely hairy. Each fruit has up to 3 hemispherical to lens-shaped, wrinkly seeds that are 8-9 by 6.5-8 by 4-6 millimeters. Each seed has a 1-1.2 by 0.6-0.8 millimeter elliptical hilum. The seeds are arranged in two rows in the fruit.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''P. galeata'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in peat soils in swamp and dry forests on slopes and hills at elevations up to 500 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5438362

galeata Galeata ( rgn, Gagliêda) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Forlì. Galeata borders the following municipalities: Civ ...

Endemic flora of Peninsular Malaysia Trees of Peninsular Malaysia Conservation dependent plants Near threatened flora of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by James Sinclair (botanist) Plants described in 1955