''Saurauia clementis'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Actinidiaceae The Actinidiaceae are a small family of flowering plants. The family has three genera and about 360 species and is a member of the order Ericales. Distribution They are temperate and subtropical woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native to Asia ( ...

. It is

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 ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Elmer Drew Merrill Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through t ...

, the American botanist who first formally described the species, named it after

Mary Strong Clemens Mary Strong Clemens (3 January 1873 – 13 April 1968) was an American botanist and plant collector. A fanatical botanist, she collected plants assiduously throughout her long life, in the remote parts of the Philippines, Borneo, China, New Gui ...

, the American botanist who collected the specimen that he examined.

Description

It is a bush or small tree. Its membranous leaves are by and their tips come to a shallow point. The leaves are dark on their upper side, paler below, and bristly on both surfaces. The leaves have 7–8 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. The leaf margins have bristly serrations. Its densely bristly petioles are long.

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 are axillary

cymes 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 on ...

with a few flowers organized on densely bristly peduncles in length. Its flowers have 5 oval-shaped, overlapping

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 ...

, long. The exposed parts of the outer surface of the sepals have dark purple bristles that are long. The flowers have corollas that are 10 millimeters long with 5 lobes; each lobe is notched at the top. Its flowers have 20

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 long. Each flower has a 3-chambered

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

. Each ovary contains numerous

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. Its flowers have 3 styles that are long and fused at their base for the last .

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''S. clementis'' is shed as permanent tetrads.Jagudilla-Bulalacao, L (1997) Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Volume 1, Taguig, Metro Manila: Department of Science and Technology, Special Projects Unit, Technology Application and Promotion Institute.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17252458 clementis Endemic flora of the Philippines Plants described in 1906 Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill