A New, Threatened Species of Tetraplasandra (Araliaceae) from Kaua'i, Hawaiian Islands, and Notes on its Conservation Status Porter P. Iowry II Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299, U.S.A.Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 16 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
[email protected] Kenneth R. Wood National Tropical Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 340, Lawai, Hawai'i 96765, U.S.A.
[email protected]'r:ttIA' . Tetraplasandra flynnii is describedfrom Kaua'i, Hawaiian Islands. It resembles themore widespread T kavaiensis, but is restricted toa single known population now comprising onlythree individuals growing in mesic to wet forest thatis increasingly impacted by introduced goats andaggressive non-native plant species. Material hasbeen propagated for ex situ conservation, but effec-tive management will be required to ensure thecontinued survival of the wild population. The remarkable flora of the Hawaiian Islands hasreceived renewed attention from field botanists andtaxonomists since the mid 1980s, stimulated by theManual of the Fhnoering Plants of Hawai'i project(Wagner et al., 1990). In addition to carrying out acomprehensive re-assessment of species limits anddistributions within Hawai'i, the project also servedas a catalyst for exploration, especially in areas thathad previously been neglected. Botanically, Kaua'i isperhaps the least well known of Hlawai'i's eight mainislands, and its highly dissected topography, withmany deep valleys and steep, often vertical slopes.presents special challenges for plant collecting. Re-cent fieldwork aimed at documenting the island's florahas generated many interesting collections, includingseveral new species, one of which is descriled here. The continued survival of wild populations ofmany native lawaiian endemics is increasinglythreatened because of extensive habitat degradationor loss. For this reason, the National Tropical Bo-tanical Garden (NTBG) has placed special empha-sis on assessing the geographic distribution of themost restricted and vulnerable of these endemicspecies, and on studying their population structureand genetics so that appropriate measures can beundertaken using both in situ and ex situ conser-vation techniques. Our new species of Tetraplas-andra is one of these very rare single-island en-demics, and we hope that by describing it here anddetailing the current plight of the only known pop-ulation, we can stimulate action by those in a po-sition to imnplemenit effective protection.No\oN 10: 40-44. 2000.Tetraplasandra flynnii Lowry & K. R. Wood, sp. nov. TYPE: U.S.A. Hawaiian Islands. Kaua'i: Waimea Dist., Koke'e State Park, Kalalau Val-ley, steep forested slope of SE rim, ca. 1175 m, 22�09'N, 159�38'W, 17 Aug. 1988 (fl, fr), Flynn 3103 (holotype, PTBG (1871, 1872); isotypes, BISH, F, K, MO (3595738, 3595740, 4629226), P, US (2 sheets)). Figures 1-3. iHac species 7. kuaraiensi affinis, sed ah ea reprolmh'-lioniis sistelrate andlront onoico, ovario 5-carpellari omninoinfer. pietlalis niajoril)us 8.0-12.5 mmni longis atque fructuluiccrolato nimjore 15-18 X 10-12 innii m tlicnte in col-uni am sl vlaremi conicari desinente (lillert. Andromonoecious trees ca. 7-9 m tall, wellbranched above the middle. Leaves pinnately com-pound, 28-57 cm long, densely rusty brown to tawnyfarinose stellate pubescent throughout except on theupper surface of the leaflets; petiole 7-17 cm long,stout, ca. 4-8(-10) mm diam. at the base; rachisarticulated at the petiolule bases; petiolules of lateralleaflets (2-)5-22 mm long, those of the terminal leaf-let (17-)20-50 mm long; leaflets 5 to 9, narrowlyovate to elliptic, 4-8 X (5.5-)7-17 cm, the lower-most pair sometimes reduced, lamina glossy greenand glabrous above, often with a whitish scurf, mid-vein yellow-green, farinose stellate pubescent belowwith evident yellow-brown venation, apex acute tonearly rounded, margin entire, minutely revolute,base acute to rounded or subcordate, usually obliqueon the lateral leaflets. Inflorescence axillary, panic-ulate-umbellate, pendent, densely brown farinosestellate pubescent throughout, primary axis stout,(5-)6-13 cm long, secondary axes (2-)3-6, 2-4 ter-minal and (0-)1-2 inserted laterally along the pri-mary axis, the uppermost secondary axes (pedun-cles) 6-10 cm long, bearing ca. 10 to 15hermaphrodite flowers, ca. 3 to 8 forming a terminalumbellule and the others scattered along the axis,the lowermost generally abortive and leaving an ev-ident scar, the lower secondary axes (when present)sometimes further divided, 13-15 cm long, with 10
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