Eugenia tiwakaensis J.W. Dawson &amp; N. Snow, spec. nova
Creators: name: Snow, Neil
name: Dawson, John W.
name: Callmander, Martin W.
name: Kanchi Gandhi
name: Munzinge, Jérôme
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Myrtales
Myrtaceae
Eugenia
Eugenia tiwakaensis

description: <i>Eugenia</i> <i>tiwakaensis</i> J. W. Dawson &amp; N. Snow, <b>spec. nova</b> (Fig. 1, 6). <b>Typus:</b> <b>New CaledoNia. Prov. Nord:</b> Basse Tiwaka, 10 m, 1. I.1979, <i>MacKee 36340</i> (holo-: P [P 04722500]!). <i>Distinct among congenerics in New Caledonia by its cordate to basally rounded, petiolate leaves, secondary veins arising from ca. 10-20̊ angles, glandular abaxial leaf surfaces, raised adaxial midrib, and sparsely to moderately densely short-villous ferrugineous indumentum of the inflorescence axis and flowers.</i> <i>Shrubs</i> to 2 m. Indumentum (where present) ferrugineous, sparsely to moderately short-villous (“hairy” below). Branchlets rounded to slightly compressed, moderately to densely short-villous (trichomes ferrugineous at base but often clear or whitish apically), the epidermis sometimes slightly furrowed longitudinally and soon becoming flaky. <i>Leaves</i> petiolate, coriaceous, venation brochidodromous, glabrescent, slightly discolorous, surfaces matte or somewhat glossy above, evenly distributed along branchlets. Foliar colleters not seen. Petioles 4-7 mm, sulcate above, eglandular. <i>Leaf blades</i> 10.0-14.6 X 3.5-5.7 cm, narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, base rounded or cordate, apex acute, margin flat; adaxial surface glabrescent near base but otherwise glabrous, eglandular, midvein narrowly and slightly projecting proximally but becoming flush distally, secondary and tertiary veins prominent and slightly projecting (dried material); abaxial surface glabrous, oil glands common and distinct; secondary veins prominent, intramarginal vein prominent and 3-6 mm from margin at midpoint of blade (also visible adaxially). <i>Inflorescences</i> terminal, axillary or ramiflorous; flowers solitary, paired, fascicled, or in short brachyblasts. Peduncles 4-12 mm, rigid, more or less ascending, hairy. <i>Bracteoles</i> 2, 1.0- 1.2 mm, triangular, ascending to erect and appressed against hypanthium, glandular above, hairy, soon deciduous. <i>Hypanthium</i> 3-4 mm, obconic, prominently glandular, sparsely to moderately hairy. <i>Calyx lobes</i> 4, 2- 3 mm, broadly rounded, prominently glandular, ciliate and sparsely hairy below. <i>Petals</i> 4, 5- 9 X 3-5 mm, obovate, sparsely short ciliate, glands sparse. <i>Stamens</i> ca. 75-125, multiseriate; filaments 5-8 mm; anthers 1.0- 1.2 mm, globose to subellipsoid, sub-basifixed, eglandular; staminal disc short-villous. Ovary apex (surrounding style) glabrous. <i>Style</i> length not confirmed (but glabrous below). <i>Fruit</i> not seen but said to be reddish. <i>Distribution and ecology. ‒ Eugenia tiwakaensis</i> at present is known only from two collections near the northwest coast, growing in a transitional zone between schistes and serpentines or over ultramafics from ca. 10 m to an unspecified “middle altitude” <i>(Vandrot 629)</i> on Tiwaka (Fig. 2). Flowering in January, fruiting in September. <i>Conservation status. ‒</i> The recent collection <i>(Vandrot 629)</i> indicates the species is a common local shrub in a very small patch of remnant forest of ca. 2,931 ha. on a plateau that was nearly completely burned. The MacKee locality “basse Tiwaka, 10 m ” is vague, but this general area has been burned widely and intentionally during political protests over the past 35 years. With only three recent collections from a single reliable location in a highly threatened forest remnant, <i>E. tiwakaensis</i> is assigned a preliminary IUCN conservation status of “Critically Endangered” [CR B 1ab(v)+2ab(v) +2(a) +D]. <i>Notes. ‒ Eugenia tiwakaensis</i> most closely resembles <i>E. sicifolia,</i> although the triangular bracteoles and broadly rounded calyx lobes of <i>E. tiwakaensis</i> differ from the linear and proportionally longer bracteoles and acute calyx lobes of <i>E. sicifolia.</i> A note on the holotype label indicates the plant was frequented by bees. <i>Paratypus.</i> ‒ <b>New CaledoNia. Prov. Nord:</b> Tiwaka, Plateau de Kokingone, 29. IX.2012, 165°13’57’’ E 20°51’35’’ S, 365 m, <i>Vandrot 629</i> (NOU [NOU 079951], P [P 02089724]).
description: Published as part of <i>Neil Snow, John W. Dawson, Martin W. Callmander, Kanchi Gandhi &amp; Jérôme Munzinge, 2016, New Species, New Combinations, and Lectotypifications in New Caledonian Eugenia L. (Myrtaceae), pp. 67-81 in Candollea 71 (1)</i> on page 76, DOI: 10.15553/c2016v711a9, http://zenodo.org/record/168255