Licuala honbaensis Henderson & Nguyen Quoc Dung 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Henderson, Andrew
name: Dung, Nguyen Quoc
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Arecales
Arecaceae
Licuala
Licuala honbaensis

description: Licuala honbaensis Henderson & Nguyen Quoc Dung sp. nov. (Fig. 6)   
 Type:— VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa Province: Dien Khanh District, Hon Ba Nature Reserve, 12.100N, 108.966E, 910 m, 10 July 2010, A. Henderson & Bui Van Thanh 3694 (holotype HN!, isotype NY!).   
 It differs from similar species with elongate ligules and ellipsoid fruits (L. bidoupensis, L. caespitosa, and L. glaberrima) in its calyx with the 3 apical lobes splitting again to give 6 lobes.   
Stems solitary, 1.7–5.0 m tall, 5.0–8.0 cm diameter. Leaf number not recorded; sheaths length not recorded; ligules persistent, to 70.0 cm long, hanging down below the leaf bases; petioles 170.0–200.0 m long, with stout thorns to 0.7 cm long; blades split into 31–37 segments, these with straight sides; costa continuous into central segment, forming a petiolulate base to segment; middle segment 55.0–60.0 cm long, 5.0 cm wide at apex; lateral segment 50.0 cm long, 1.7 cm wide at apex; segments briefly indented at the apex, and with minute, brown scales abaxially. Inflorescences erect amongst the leaves, 160.0–200.0 cm long, branched to 2 orders; prophylls not recorded; rachis bracts tubular, 10.0 cm long, fraying at the apices; partial inflorescences 6–9 partial; rachillae 17.0–24.0 cm long, densely covered with short, brown, felty hairs; flowers 3.0– 3.5 mm long, 2–3 borne together on a scarcely raised pedicel, the clusters distantly spaced along the rachillae; calyx 2 mm long, hairy as the rachillae, the base not tubular, the 3 apical lobes splitting again to give 6 lobes; corolla 3.0 mm long, with minute, appressed hairs distally, splitting about half way into 3, valvate petals; stamens 6; staminal ring 0.5 mm long; filaments free for ca. 0.5 mm; anthers oblong; pistil 2 mm long; fruits immature, ellipsoid.  
 Distribution and habitat:—Southern Vietnam in Khanh Hoa province in lowland rainforest on steep slopes at 500–910 m elevation.   
 Taxonomic notes:— Licuala honbaensis appears similar to a group of species having leaf segments not joined at the apices; tubular rachis bracts; long rachillae with scarcely raised, distantly spaced pedicels; small, somewhat rounded flower buds; and ellipsoid fruits. This group comprises L. bidoupensis, L. caespitosa, and L. glaberrima. It differs from these in its calyces splitting into 6 lobes, a character state previously known only in Lanonia.   
 Additional specimens examined. VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa province: Hon Ba Nature Reserve, road to summit, undisturbed forest on steep slopes, 12.11N, 108.98E, ca. 500 m, 4 July 2014, Henderson & Nguyen Quoc Dung 3893 (NY, VFM); same locality, same date, Henderson & Nguyen Quoc Dung 3895 (NY, VFM).
description: Published as part of Henderson, Andrew & Dung, Nguyen Quoc, 2017, New species of Lanonia, Licuala, and Pinanga (Arecaceae) from Vietnam, pp. 159-172 in Phytotaxa 323 (2) on pages 164-165, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.323.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/13696684