''Pseuduvaria silvestris'' is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to New Guinea. Ludwig Diels, the botanist who first formally described the species under the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Orophea silvestris'', named it after the forested ( in Latin) habitat the specimens he examined were found growing in near the Waria River.

Description

It is a small tree reaching 5 meters in height. The young, grey-brown to black branches are densely hairy. Its elliptical to oval or egg-shaped, papery to slightly leathery leaves are 11–24.5 by 2–7 centimeters. The leaves have heart-shaped bases and tapering tips, with the tapering portion 14–43 millimeters long. The leaves are hairless on their upper and densely hairy on their lower surfaces. The leaves have 12–22 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles, if present, are densely hairy, 1–4 by 1–3 millimeters with a broad groove on their upper side. Its solitary Inflorescences occur on branches, and are organized on very densely hairy peduncles that are 10–18 by 0.1–0.5 millimeters. Each inflorescence has 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 3–7 by 0.2–0.4 millimeters. The pedicels are organized on a rachis up to 5 millimeters long that have 5–7

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 0.3 millimeters long. It has male and hermaphroditic flowers, but the latter are poorly described in the literature. Its flowers have 3 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 partially fused at their base. The sepals are 0.2 by 0.7 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 dark purple to red, circular, outer petals are 0.7 by 0.9 millimeters with hairless upper and very densely hairy lower surfaces. The dark purple to dull red, diamond-shaped inner petals have a 0.6 millimeter long claw at their base and a 2–3 by 1.5–2.5 millimeter blade. The inner petals have pointed bases and tips. The inner petals are slightly hairy on their upper surfaces and very densely hairy on their lower surfaces. Male flowers have up to 29

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 0.4–0.6 by 0.4–0.5 millimeters. The fruit occur in clusters of 1–2 on densely hairy pedicles that are 5–12 by 0.5–1.5 millimeters. The pedicels are attached to a densely hairy peduncle that is 10–21 by 0.5–1 millimeters. The orange, globe-shaped to elliptical fruit are 8-28 by 6–27 millimeters. The fruit are smooth, and very densely hairy. Each fruit has up to 5 hemispherical to lens-shaped seeds that are 8–9.5 by 5–8 by 3.5-5 millimeters, arranged in two rows. The seeds are wrinkly.

Reproductive biology

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

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in lowland forests at elevations of 60–600 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15366294 silvestris Flora of New Guinea Plants described in 1913 Taxa named by Ludwig Diels Taxa named by James Sinclair (botanist)