Marquesas Islands.In the Marquesas,
endemic to
Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka, Ua Pou, Hiva Oa, Tahuata.
Habitat
Wet forests, wet shrublands, cloud forests, and on windswept ridges and cliffs
Elevation
686-1128 m
Habit
Shrub to 2(–3) m tall, main stem to 5 cm in diameter, sparingly branched; branchlets glabrous, 3–8 mm in diameter, with prominent leaf scars, bark wrinkled, sap pale yellow-white.
Leaves
Leaves crowded toward ends of branchlets, short-petiolate; blade narrowly obovate to obovate-oblong or linear-oblong, 3.5–15 cm long, 1.2–3.8 cm wide, apex acute to obtuse, tip often mucronulate, base narrowly cuneate, thickly chartaceous, margin denticulate in distal ⅓–⅔, glabrous except for marginal hairs toward base, secondary veins 8–20 on each side, brochidodromous, higher order venation sunken adaxially, prominulous abaxially or obscure, midrib prominulous; petiole 0.5–2 cm long, winged, puberulent along margin and toward base.
Flowers
Inflorescences axillary, peduncle 20–58 mm long, compressed, purple tinged, bracteoles ovate-elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 2–8 mm long, 0.6–1.2 mm wide. Flowers with obconical hypanthium, 8–10 mm long, 7–9 mm wide distally, calyx lobes broadly subulate to oblong-elliptic, 2–12 mm long, 1.5–3 mm wide; corolla in bud tubular, curved distally, 30–35 mm long, externally greenish white or cream, sometimes with purple-pink longitudinal stripes or flush, glabrous, internally deep purple-pink, pubescent toward base, at anthesis splitting dorsally nearly to base, upper 2 lobes linear-oblong, 12–15 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, strongly recurved, lower 3 lobes triangular to oblong, 8–13 mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, these usually connivent into a recurved lip; staminal column purple-pink, 20–28 mm long, 3–4 mm diameter distally, anthers 5–7 mm long; stigmatic lobes eventually exserted beyond staminal column and spreading, 7–8 mm long, inner surfaces densely white barbate.
Fruit
Fruit obconical, 12–20 mm long, 9–10 mm in diameter, glabrous, bisulcate, weakly ribbed, crowned with persistent calyx lobes and prominent beak to 5 mm long, pericarp eventually disintegrating exposing pale brown sclerified endocarp.
Seeds
Seeds ellipsoid, 1.5–1.7 mm long, 0.7–0.8 m wide, testa pale brown, minutely foveolate-reticulate.
