Polyosma trimeniifolia Kaneh. & Hatus.

Paul, O. K., Conn, B. J. & Henwood, M. J., 2024, Taxonomic review of Polyosma (Escalloniaceae) in Papuasia, Blumea 69, pp. 54-88 : 86

33. Polyosma trimeniifolia Kaneh. & Hatus.

Polyosma trimeniifolia Kaneh. & Hatus. (1942) 307, f. 3 (‘ trimeniaefolia ’). — Type: R. Kanehira & S. Hatusima 14099 (holo FU, n.v.; probable iso A [ A42998 ], sterile), Indonesia, Papua Barat, Vogelkop , Iray , Lake (= Anggi) Giji , ‘ 8 Apr. 1940 ’ and ‘ April 5, 1940 ’ (respectively).

Small tree to 5 m tall, densely branched. Branchlets glabrous. Leaves glabrous; petiole 0.5–1 cm long; lamina obovate-narrowly ovate or elliptic-narrowly ovate, usually c. 5 by 1.8– 2.5 cm, base narrowly cuneate, margin distantly serrate, apex obtuse to apiculate on upper leaves; secondary veins 9–10 on each side and diverging 60– 80° from midrib, closing by inframarginal looping veins; prominent (raised) on abaxial surface. Inflorescence racemose, terminal, erect, rachis 4– 5 cm long, 10–15-flowered; peduncles and pedicels sparsely hairy; bracteoles not recorded. Calyx lobes c. 0.5 mm long. Corolla not recorded. Fruits not recorded, presumably densely hairy.

Distribution — Only known from the type material collected in Indonesia (Papua Barat: Vogelkop).

Habitat & Ecology — Recorded from “mossy forests ... at about 2,000 m altitude” ( Kanehira & Hatusima 1942: 308). The probable isotype (as held at A) records the habitat as “ On the open spinneys (sic) on the rigde [ridge] running to Lake Gita. ”

Conservation status — The taxonomic, and hence conservation status of this species is unknown.

Nomenclature — The specific epithet provided by Kanehira & Hatusima (1942) (namely ‘trimeniaefolia’) consisted of two elements that were not combined correctly ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 60.10), and so is corrected to ‘trimeniifolia .’

Although the replicate sheet of the type collection, as held at A, has a different collection date to that of the holotype (at FU), it is here regarded as a probable labelling error .

Note — Although P. trimeniifolia is taxonomically inadequately known, it is morphologically similar to P. dentata and P. rampae . It is a small tree up to 5 m tall, similar to P. dentata (4–6.8 m tall, vs P. rampae which is a s hrub, c. 2 m tall); lamina obovate-narrowly ovate or elliptic-narrowly ovate, like P. rampae with lamina narrowly obovate (vs lamina broadly elliptic in P. dentata ); lamina usually c. 5 by 1.8–2.5 cm (vs (1.2–)1.5–2.7 by 0.5–1.1 cm in P. rampae ; 5.5–11.5 by 3–5 cm in P. dentata ); leaf apex obtuse to apiculate (on upper leaves) (vs acute or mucronate in P. rampae ; acuminate in P. dentata ); inflorescence terminal for both P. trimeniifolia and P. rampae (vs axillary for P. dentata ); inflorescence rachis 4–5 cm long (vs 1.5–2 cm long in P. rampae ; (2–) 4–6 cm long in P. dentata ); rachis for both P. trimeniifolia and P. dentata hairy (vs glabrous in P. rampae ); calyx lobes c. 0.5 mm long (vs c. 1.2 mm long in P. rampae ; 1–4 mm long in P. dentata ).