Author: Van Steenis
Morphological description
Large tree .
Leaves (schmutzii Symp TYPE detail ) bipinnate, with 3 or 2 pairs of pinnae, each pinna with 3-6 pairs of leaflets; petiole 7-22 cm, thickened at the base; rachis 6-8 cm; stalk of the pinna 4-10 cm; petiolules thickish, dark, 3-5 mm. Leaflets oblong-elliptic, 10-15 by 3.5-6 cm; apex acuminate; base more or less equal- or unequal-sided.
Inflorescences (schmutzii Symp TYPE detail ) terminal and axillary, simple racemose or little branched panicles ; rachis and bracts appressed puberulous; peduncle 4-6 cm, the rachis up to 20 cm, not thickened; pedicels slender, 2.5-3 mm, articulated at the base.
Flowers patent, glabrous (except the ovary). Calyx c. 1 mm long, glabrous; lobes ovate-triangular, c. 0.8 mm long, acute. Petals obovate-oblong, 3-5 by 1.5-2 mm. Disk 5-crenate, c. 1 mm high. Stamens : 5-8 mm; anthers oblong, c. 0.7 mm long. Ovary stipitate (stipe c. 2 mm), spindle-shaped, 1.5 mm long, densely woolly, 3- or 4-ovuled; style straight, 3.5 mm.
Pods (schmutzii Sympetalandra po/seed ) very woody, more or less linear, blunt, c. 30(-67) by 5 cm, the margins almost parallel; valves lengthwise striated by c. 20 prominent ribs, 6-8 mm thick, twisted when dry.
Seeds roundish to broadly elliptic, 4.5-5.5 by 3-3.5 cm, 1.5 cm thick.
Distribution
Malesia : Lesser Sunda Islands (Flores).
Habitat & Ecology
At 400-500 m altitude. Flowering and fruiting in September, October.
Uses
The bark is used as fish poison and the seeds are used for primitive illumination purposes.