Gnetum montanum Markgr., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg III, 10: 466 1930.; Vines; leaves drying dark green to brown or black; seed coat glabrous or with minute, silvery scales; Seeds clearly stipitate, stipe much longer than thick; Seed stipe 0.2-0.6 cm; Seed cylindric-ovoid or cylindric, 0.65-0.9(-1.2) cm wide as per Keys at Flora of China; Andaman Is.; Assam; Bangladesh; Cambodia; China South-Central; China Southeast;
East Himalaya; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Thailand; Vietnam as per Catalogue of Life;
Gnetum montanum (Gnetaceae), a woody liana belinging Gymnosperm group, commonly found in Manipur forests. Ripe 'fruits' are attractively coloured, perhaps eaten by birds. Gnetum montanum Markgraf, Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 3. 10: 406. 1930. Vines to more than 10 m tall; branchlets orbicular or compressed orbicular in cross section, smooth, sometimes wrinkled longitudinally. Petiole 0.8-1.5 cm; leaf blade usually oblong, sometimes oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, 10-25 × 4-11 cm, leathery or nearly so, lateral veins 8-13 on each side, base rounded or broadly cuneate, apex obtuse to acute. Male inflorescences lax, once or twice branched, 2.5-6 cm; peduncle 6-12 mm; male spikes 2-3 cm × 2.5-3 mm, involucral collars 13-18, each collar with (20-)25-45 flowers plus 10-15 sterile female flowers, basal hairs forming a dense, short cushion. Female inflorescences lateral, solitary or fascicled, main axis thin, with 3 or 4 pairs of branches; peduncle 2-3 cm; female spikes 2-3 cm × ca. 4 mm, enlarging to ca. 10 cm when mature, nodes each with 5-8 female flowers, basal hairs sparse, short. Seeds yellowish brown or reddish brown, cylindric-ovoid or cylindric, (1-)1.2-1.5(-2) cm × 6.5-9(-12) mm, 1.6-1.85 × as long as wide, base rounded, sometimes contracted into a stipe to 3(-5) mm, outer coat smooth or ± longitudinally wrinkled when dried, sometimes covered with silvery scales. Pollination Apr-Jun, seed maturity Aug-Oct. The fibers from the bark of the stem are used in making gunny bags, fishing nets, and ropes; the seeds yield an edible oil, are eaten fried, and are used for making wine; the sap is used as a cold drink. Thank you ... for these wonderful pictures. Gnetum 's 'fruits' are all pulpy, does any other Gymnosperm have such pulpy seeds? I don't think that Gnetum fruits are pulpy rather the mesocarp is filled with very fine fibers. If you try to chew or handle you get all the "spiny" fibers on your mouth/body. But I have seen Hornbills and Barbets eats the fruits but no post dispersal predations is noticed so far in my observations. Thanks for sharing your observations ... I have not seen the fruiting at all so my inference is only from the pictures. But my question is does this kind of look of the seeds of Gynosperm occur in other species of Gymnosperms or is it unique to Gnetum species only? |
|
|
