Scleropyrum brevistachyum (Santalaceae), a new species from Papua New Guinea
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ISSN: 0075-5974 (print) ISSN: 1874-933X (electronic)
Scleropyrum brevistachyum (Santalaceae), a new species from Papua New Guinea Jill Macklin1 & J. A. N. Parnell2,3
Summary. A new species of Scleropyrum from Papua New Guinea, namely Scleropyrum brevistachyum is described and illustrated based on material in CANB and L. Key Words. hard pear, hemiparasites, Sirinumu region, taxonomy.
Introduction Scleropyrum Arn. is a genus of small, hemiparasitic trees in the family Santalaceace R.Br. and was first described in 1838 (Arnott 1838). The name is derived from Sclero meaning hard and pyrus meaning pear. Indeed, in India, it is commonly known as the hard pear tree (Flowers of India, retrieved 2020). The genus is characterised by pyriform fruits, puberulous stems and catkins. It contains one very widespread species, S. pentandrum (Dennst.) Mabb. [= S. wallichianum (Wight & Arn.) Arn. (as cited in Xia & Gilbert 2003)], which occurs across the range of the genus (Southern China and India to New Guinea) and two species, S. aurantiacum (Lauterb. & K.Schum.) Pilg. and S. maingayi Hook.f., that are endemic to New Guinea. The species are all morphologically similar but can be distinguished on the size and aestivation of the male flowers and by the shape of their fruits. Scleropyrum is generally associated with disturbed habitats and is common in lowland hillside forests, in the undergrowth of Castanopsis-Quercus forests and in Eurya (Theaceae) dominated secondary forests. It is also locally common in open areas in dry evergreen forests and in lowland Dipterocarp forests. A variety of uses have been described for Scleropyrum species: young shoots can be applied topically to treat skin irritations and oil extracted from the seeds can be used as components of lubricants and soap. Extracts from the leaves may also have anticarcinogenic properties and there is also anecdotal evidence that the fruits can be consumed once they have been cooked (Venugopal et al. 2012). Examination of a large volume of herbarium material of this genus from across South East Asia revealed what
was clearly a new and undescribed species which differed from all other materials in being densely pubescent and with very short male inflorescences.
Materials and Methods All descriptions were constructed based on observations made on herbarium material. Vegetative measurements were made directly on dried herbarium material. Floral measurements were made on flowers that had been boiled for 2 minutes so as to rehydrate them and make handling easier. All measurements were made using a standard steel ruler or using a calibrated scale on a Leitz M3Z dissection microscope. Taxonomic Treatment Scleropyrum brevistachyum Stauffer ex J.M.Macklin, sp. nov. Type: Central distr., 3 miles S of Sogeri, Sirinumu region, 9°25'S 147°30'E, Schodde 2988 (holotype L [L 0410984]; isotypes CANB [CANB 122099, CANB 122100]). http://www.ipni.org/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77211709-1 Branches spreading, horizontal, angular. Juvenile stems flattened, longitudinally grooved, covered in a dense i
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