Since my initial posting of this thread, I was real curious in photographing the M/a ssp truncata with fruits and bud. I finally did it today by taking a 3 hr drive to the Northern part of the central highlands. Here the plants are much darker in pigmentation. I found 3 plts with fruits and only shown one as they are all the same. Apparently according to the locals, this plant only fruit when it is big - 10+ft - p/stem height.
I am so suprised that the color of the bud is so dark. Its lowland ssp malaccensis is a beautiful carmine red.
This pix is typical of the plants found here. Practically solid black semi gloss p/stem and petioles.