Freycinetia halmaherensis A.P.Keim, W.Sujarwo & Sahroni

Keim, A. P., Sujarwo, W. & Sahroni, D., 2022, A new species of Freycinetia Gaudich. (Pandanaceae; Freycinetoideae) from the island of Halmahera, the Moluccas, Indonesia, Blumea 67 (2), pp. 129-131 : 130-131

Freycinetia halmaherensis A.P.Keim, W.Sujarwo & Sahroni — Fig. 1 , 2

Moderate climbing pandan with conspicuous ellipsoidal leaves and spiny auricles. — Type: SM 7 (holo BO!), Indonesia, Moluccas, Halmahera , 2008 .

Etymology. The epithet refers to Halmahera Island, where the type was collected.

Medium-sized climbing pandan;leaf blades ellipsoid;auricle spiny. Stem glabrous, green, c. 1 cm diam; internodes 1.5–2 cm long, climbing roots present, distinct. Leaf blade ellipsoid, 19– 20 by 7.5–8 cm, glabrous, green, apex acuminate; auricle tapered, margin with conspicuous spines. Inflorescence, flowers, infructescence, cephalia and fruits unknown.

Distribution — Endemic to Halmahera (N Maluku).

Habitat & Ecology — Apparently lowland tropical rainforest.

Conservation status — Data Deficient ( DD). Freycinetia halmaherensis is so far known only from the type. The size of the populations and the area of occupancy are unknown .

Notes — The presence of the spines in the margin of the auricle is the distinctive morphological character of the members of sect. Hemsleyella according to the infrageneric classification proposed by Stone (1968). Prior to this present study, the section includes three species namely F. rigidifolia , F. pectinata , and F. spinifera ( Keim 2009) . Nonetheless, no member of the section is known to possess the ellipsoid leaves ( Table 1). Thus, this taxon from Halmahera is proposed here as a new species, F. halmaherensis . Freycinetia scandens , with fairly similar ellipsoid leaves with obvious acuminate apex, is found in the Moluccas too, on Seram Island ( Keim et al. 2008), and can easily be confused and misidentified in the field with F. halmaherensis ; nevertheless, F. halmaherensis straightforwardly differs from F. scandens by the possession of the spiny auricle ( Table 1). There is also another species known with minute spines in the margin of the auricle, F. micrura , from Sulawesi, but this species has lanceolate-elongate leaves ( Stone 1983a; Table 1).

Describing a new species of Freycinetia based on vegetative morphological characters only is very exceptional; however, F. halmaherensis possesses two very strong distinctive morphological characters that combined are not shared with any species of sect. Hemsleyella, even not with all other Freycinetia species: the ellipsoid leaves and spiny auricles. Thus, F. halmaherensis is proposed here as a new species and a new member of sect. Hemsleyella.

No duplicates are known of the type, nor any other collections representing this new species in other herbaria (Peter van Welzen checked for L) .

Figures

Fig. 1 Freycinetia halmaherensis A.P. Keim, W.Sujarwo & Sahroni showing the ellipsoidal leaves each with acuminate apex. — Photo: Ary Prihardhyanto Keim. 2022.

Fig. 2 Freycinetia halmaherensis A.P. Keim,W.Sujarwo & Sahroni showing the spiny auricle. — Photo: Ary Prihardhyanto Keim. 2022.