Author: de Wit
Morphological description
Tree to 10(-21) m high and 7.6(-28.6) cm in diameter, shrub-like tree or treelet 1.5 m high. Stipules intrapetiolar, 2-3 mm long.
Leaves (4-)5 or 6(-8)-foliolate, shortly petioled; petiole and rachis (6-)9-14 cm long, minutely puberulous, prolonged beyond the upper petiolule into a caducous process, often only the scar seen on a specimen; petiolules short, 5-9 mm, subglabrous. Leaflets subcoriaceous, elliptic-, obovate- or ovate-oblong, or elliptic, (7.5-)14-20 by (3.5-)4.8-7.5 cm, the lower ones usually smaller; apex cuspidate or rather abruptly acuminate; base cuneate, acute, obtuse, or rounded, symmetric; glabrous above, loosely minutely puberulous, glabrescent, or glabrous beneath; nerves 5-8 per side (ornata Crudia lv/inf FM27 ).
Inflorescences racemose, axillary, sometimes also terminal, up to 15.5 cm long, erect, the rachis rusty-tomentose, moderately flowered; bracts ovate, lanceolte, or linear, 3.5-15 mm long, puberulous, glabrescent; bracteoles elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, often at the upper half of pedicel, rather large, covering the bud at its very young stage, 6-8 mm long; pedicels 15-20 mm, puberulous, articulated at the base.
Flowers puberulous outside. Hypanthium 2-3 mm long, often ridged outside, glabrous inside. Calyx lobes unequal, broadly elliptic or elliptic, or obovate, 6-7 by 3-4 mm, slightly loosely appressedly puberulous often on the lower half inside, glabrescent, or almost glabrous. Stamens 10 (or 9); filaments up to c. 15 mm, glabrous; anthers c. 1 mm long. Pistil stipitate; stipe 2-3 mm long, glabrous; ovary 3-4.5 mm long, (4-)6-ovuled; style up to c. 8 mm, glabrous except often hairy towards the base; stigma obscure, slightly thicker than the style.
Pods oblong, elliptic, or oblanceolate, often unequilateral, 10-14 by 4.5-5 cm, acuminate and hardly beaked at apex, obtuse at base, shortly brown hairy, valves 2, hard leathery, 1-several-seeded.
Seeds irregularly suborbicular or subreniform, 2.5-3 by 3.5-4 by 1.7 cm, slightly finely rugose.
Distribution
Malesia: Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak, Kalimantan).
Habitat & Ecology
In primary forests, from lowland up to 200 m altitude, sometimes occurring on sand- and limestone. Flowering January, February, April, July, August, November; fruiting April, July, August
Notes
1. - The habit of the plants of Crudia ornata has variously been recorded as a tree (often), a treelet (e. g., SAN 67706, L), a slender shrub-like tree (Merrill, 1929: 99), or a shrub (e. g., Valera 9442, L).
2. - Specimens of the present species can be recognized by a combination of the following characters:
a) leaves often 5- or 6- foliolate,
b) leaflets coriaceous, often loosely minutely puberulous on the lower surface,
c) nerves and veins obscure or invisible above, obscure, visible or distinct beneath,
d) pedicels rather long in this genus, 15-20 mm,
e) rather large bracteoles (6-8 mm long),
f) calyx lobes often slightly loosely appressedly puberulous on the lower half inside, and
g) ovary often 6-ovuled.