{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Speciesbox |image = Benuang (Octomeles sumatrana) big buttress (15473933249).jpg |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref =<ref name="iucn status 17 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Hills, R. |year=2019 |title=''Octomeles sumatrana'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T33239A67810862 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T33239A67810862.en |access-date=17 November 2021}}</ref> |genus = Octomeles |parent_authority = Miq. |species = sumatrana |authority = Miq. }}
'''''Octomeles'''''<ref>Miquel FAW (1861) Flora van Nederlandsch Indië, Eerste bijvoegsel. C.G. van der Post, Amsterdam. Vol. 2: 151–336</ref> is a monotypic genus of plant in family Tetramelaceae. The sole species is '''''Octomeles sumatrana''''',<ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/tro-100354850 TPL: ''Octomeles sumatrana'' Miq. (6 February 2018)]</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40030198 Tropicos: ''O. sumatrana'' Miq. (6 February 2018)]</ref> sometimes written ''O. sumatranum''.<ref>[https://www.gbif.org/species/4928823 GBIF: ''Octomeles sumatranum'' Miq. (6 February 2018)]</ref>
''Octomeles sumatrana'', commonly called '''Benuang''', or '''Ilimo''', is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands. It and ''Tetrameles nudiflora'' are the only two species in the family Tetramelaceae. They were previously classified in the Datiscaceae but found genetically not to form a natural clade with the other members of that family.<ref name=rennersch>{{cite journal|url=http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Schaefer&Renner_Cucs_Taxon2011.pdf |title=Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) |year=2011 | journal=Taxon |volume=60| issue=1 | pages= 122–38|doi=10.1002/tax.601011 |last1=Schaefer |first1=Hanno |last2=Renner |first2=Susanne S. }}</ref>
==Description== The tree is dioecious and large, reaching up to {{convert|75|m|ft}} in height and up to {{cvt|4|m}} diameter above the buttresses.<ref>{{cite book|last= Whitmore | first= Timothy C. | date= 1975 | title= Tropical Rain Forests of the Far East | location= Oxford, Eng. | publisher= Clarendon Press | page= 73}}</ref> A pioneer species, it regenerates quickly in disturbed habitats such as logged forest and previously cultivated land. It has been known to grow as much as {{cvt|25|m|abbr=off}} in height and up to {{cvt|47|cm}} diameter at breast height (DBH) in just four years.<ref>Whitmore, Trop. Rainforests Far East op. cit. p. 86.</ref><ref>{{ cite journal| last=Davidson |first= Christopher PhD candidate |date= 17 July 1973 | title= An Anatomical and Morphological Study of the Datiscaceae | journal= Aliso | volume= 8 | issue= 1 | page= 51|doi= 10.5642/aliso.19730801.15 | doi-access= free }}</ref> Also, like other pioneer species, it is relatively short lived; even the emergent titans rarely exceeding 85 years of age.<ref>Whitmore, op. cit. p. 73.</ref> It also has noteworthy buttresses; up to {{cvt|6|m}} high by up to {{cvt|15|m}} in length.<ref>{{ cite journal| last= Van Steenis| first= C.G.G.J. | date= 1948–1954 | title= Datiscaceae | journal= Flora Malesiana | volume= 4 | issue= <Not Stated> | page= 383}}</ref> On Bougainville the buttresses take a different form; higher and narrower, up to {{cvt|16|m}} in height while only {{cvt|5.5|m}} length.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Foreman| first= D.B. | date= 1971 | title= A Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Bougainville with Descriptions of Some Common Forest Trees | journal= Papua New Guinea Dept. Of Forests Bot. Bulletin | volume=5 | page= 146}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{commonscat inline}} {{Taxonbar|from1=Q14932372|from2=Q1330345}}
Category:Tetramelaceae Category:Monotypic Cucurbitales genera Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Dioecious plants