Novitates neocaledonicae VI: Acropogon mesophilus (Malvaceae, Sterculioideae), a rare and threatened new species from the mesic forest of New Caledonia

Jérôme Munzinger (1) , Gildas Gâteblé (2)

1 UMR AMAP - Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations
2 IAC - Institut Agronomique Néo-Calédonien

A new species, Acropogon mesophilus Munzinger & Gâteblé (Malvaceae, Sterculioideae), is described from New Caledonia. This species is endemic to non-ultramafic areas, along the southwestern coast of Grande-Terre. The species has large leaves, widely ovate to ovate, and entire, and might be confused with only two other endemic species, namely A. bullatus (Pancher & Sebert) Morat and A. veillonii Morat. However, A. mesophilus differs from the other two species most evidently by its leaves 3-nerved, flat, and with truncate to rounded bases, versus leaves 5-nerved, bullate, and with cordate bases. A line drawing and color photos are provided for the new species, along with a discussion of its morphological affinities and a preliminary risk of extinction assessment of Endangered.

Mots clés: new species; species threatened with extinction; Malvaceae; Acropogon; mesic forest; New Caledonia; threatened species; Sterculioideae; taxonomy

Mots clés: forêt mésophile; nouvelle calédonie; espèce en danger

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Jérôme Munzinger, Gildas Gâteblé. Novitates neocaledonicae VI: Acropogon mesophilus (Malvaceae, Sterculioideae), a rare and threatened new species from the mesic forest of New Caledonia. Phytotaxa, 2017, 307 (3), pp.183-190. ⟨10.11646/phytotaxa.307.3.2⟩. ⟨hal-01608474⟩