Syzygium cheesmaniae Craven & Damas, 2021

Craven, L. A., Damas, K. Q. & Cowley, K. J., 2021, Studies in Papuasian Syzygium (Myrtaceae): 2. The furfuraceous species of subg. Syzygium, Blumea 66 (1), pp. 57-81 : 66

8. Syzygium cheesmaniae Craven & Damas , sp. nov. — Fig. 2 : 2.6; Map 3

From Syzygium furfuraceum Merr. & L.M.Perry it differs in having the leaf lamina narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong and 3.3‒3.5 times as long as wide and with the base attenuate (broadly oblong or sometimes obovate and 1.8‒2.6 times as long as wide and the base obtuse in S. furfuraceum ); pla- centation axile-median with the ovules spreading (axile-basal and ascending in S. furfuraceum ); and fruit subspheroid, 4.5‒6.5 mm long (fruit depressedly spheroid and c. 15 mm long in S. furfuraceum ). — Type: Van Royen 5294 (holo CANB!; iso L n.v.), Indonesia, Papua Barat Province, Waigeo Island, Siam River upstream of Wekasan,in riverine forest,alt.c. 35 m, 25 Jan.1955.

Etymology. The specific epithet honours Lucy Evelyn Cheesman (1881‒ 1969), an entomologist predominantly, who spent around six months col- lecting on Waigeo Island in 1938. Cheesman was a dedicated, successful collector whose collecting missions were self-funded. She spent around seven and a half years in New Guinea alone, most of this time in rainforest camps with her Papuan field assistants. She was a competent, interesting author and the publication of books on her travels assisted in raising funds for her future trips (e.g., see Cheesman 1935, 1938, 1949 for accounts of her three New Guinea expeditions).

Tree to 8 m tall, to 12 cm dbh. Vegetative branchlet terete, round- ed, 1.5‒2 mm diam; bark dull-glossy, smooth, not glandular-verrucose, persistent. Leaf lamina narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, 10‒15 by 3‒4.6 cm, 3.3‒3.5 times as long as wide; base attenuate; apex long acuminate; acumen flat; margin flat; coriaceous; primary and secondary venation generally similar with all or nearly all secondaries joining the intramarginal vein; primary veins 25‒27 on each side of the midrib, in median part of lamina at a divergence angle of c. 70° and 2‒6 mm apart; intramarginal vein present, 0.4‒0.6 mm from margin, secondary intramarginal vein absent. Petiole 8‒10 mm long. Reproductive seasonal growth unit apparently with a reproductive zone only. Inflorescence apparently leafless, apparently cauline, paniculate, bark furfuraceous; bracts caducous; bracteoles apparently subtending each flower, persistent or caducous. Flower buds with the apex rounded to obtuse. Flowers white or cream. Hypanthium glossy, not visibly gland-dotted, minutely wrinkled and striate; stipitate; goblet-shaped (in late bud), c. 4 by 3.5 mm (in late bud); stipe c. 0.5 mm long. Calyx lobes 4, transversely narrowly semi-elliptic, c. 0.7 mm long. Petals 4, calyptrate (coherent and falling as a cap). Staminal disc descending ( Fig. 2 : 2.6). Stamens c. 70. Placentation axile-median; placenta a peltate low cushion. Ovules c. 10‒12 per locule, spreading, arranged irregularly. Mature fruit blackish red, smooth to slightly ribbed, subspheroid, 4.5‒6.5 by 6.5‒7.5 mm excluding the calyx, with the hypanthium rim not appreciably expanding in fruit, 3‒3.5 mm diam; seed depressed spheroid; c. 6.5‒7 mm across, cotyledons collateral.

Distribution — Indonesia (Papua Province).

Habitat & Ecology — Riverine forest . Altitude c. 35 m.

Notes — 1. Only fragmented inflorescences and infructes- cences have been seen. The recorded data pertaining to inflo- rescence/infructescence structure, size, etc. therefore require confirmation.

2. The species is known from the type collection only.

Figures

Fig. 2 Staminal disc types in Syzygium species. Series 1: Flat; series 2: descending; series 3: ascending; series 4: raised.