Authors: (Blanco) Vidal
Morphological description (rhomboidea Afzelia compl FM3 ; rhomboidea Afzelia C ToS 32 )
Tree 25– 30(– 36) m high and 0.4– 0.8(– 1.2) m in diameter. Buttresses sometimes present up to 2 m high, 1– 2.5 m wide and c. 8 cm thick. Young twigs, rachides, petioles, petiolules, and leaflets often glabrous, sometimes sparsely, very rarely densely pubesent, especially on the midrib of the lower (sometimes also on the upper) surface. bracts and bracteoles small, often caducous
Leaves paripinnate, (3-) 4- or 5-jugate; petiole and rachis 10– 14(– 19) cm; petiolules 1.5– 4.5 mm. Leaflets ovate, elliptic, 3.5– 10(– 15) by 2.5– 4.5(– 6) cm; apex (shortly) acuminate; base acute or obtuse, rarely more or less truncate or shallowly concave; lateral nerves 5– 8 pairs, veins rather closely reticulate.
Inflorescences terminal or axillary, racemose, often fasciculate or paniculate, with rachis up to 12– 14(– 15) cm long, both main axis and branches puberulous; bracts and bracteoles small, often caducous; pedicels 4.5– 5.5 mm.
Flower (rhomboidea Afzelia flparts FM3 ) bisexual, zygomorphic, pedicelled. Hypanthium cupular, narrowly infundibuliform or cylindric, puberulous outside, glabrous inside, c. 3 mm long. Calyx lobes 4, imbricate, broadly ovate or subrotund, 5– 12 by 5– 9 mm, puberulous on both surfaces. Only one fully developed petal , yellowish red, red or dark red, 7– 10 by 5– 9 mm, flabellate, lower half narrowed into a claw; the other petals small or absent. Disk absent.Stamens 9, filaments 4.5– 6 cm, united at the base (or almost free), slightly hairy near the base; anthers dorsifixed, c. 1.5 mm long; staminodes (0.5– )1– 3 cm, sparsely hairy. Ovary stipitate (stipe adnate to the hypanthium),1.5– 4 mm long, puberulous along the margin, 3-8(or more)-ovuled; style of two kinds: long (40– 50 mm) or very short (1– 2 mm), slightly hairy at the base; stigma small, round.
Pods (rhomboidea Afzelia pod/seed FM3 ) oblong, obliquely oblong, or slightly rhomboid, compressed, black when ripe, glabrous, 2-valved, valves thick, woody, often 3 (or more)-seeded; 9– 12(– 20) by 5– 7(– 10) cm, c. 1.5 cm thick (rhomboidea Afzelia pod 431677).
Seeds often 3 (or more), ellipsoid, ovoid-oblong or broadly ellipsoid, smooth, exalbuminous; aril yellow, orange, or red, often 2-lobed, covering the seed for up to half or more of its length; 1.7– 3 by 1.5– 2.5 cm, c. 1 cm thick (rhomboidea Afzelia seed 431678.
Distribution
Malesia : Sumatra (Eastcoast and Palembang), Borneo (Sabah, Kalimantan), Philippines (N Luzon to Mindanao).
Habitat & Ecology
In primary forests, occasionally occurring on limestone or sandstone, up to 350 m altitude, once found at c. 1400 m. Flowering and fruiting almost the year round.
Uses
Valuable timber tree.