Licuala sandsiana Barfod & Heatubun, 2022

Barfod, Anders S. & Heatubun, Charlie D., 2022, Seven new species of Licuala (Livistoninae, Arecaceae) from New Guinea, Phytotaxa 555 (1), pp. 1-16 : 10-13

6. Licuala sandsiana Barfod & Heatubun sp. nov.

Type:― PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Manus Province: Manus Island , ca. 1 km SE of Lessau village, 125 m., 2°1’S, 146°34’E, 22 November 1975, Sands et al. 2746 (holotype K!, isotype L!) .

Figure 7.

Diagnosis: ―From the other small-sized species with a wide, unsplit mid-segment, it differs by having inflated rachis bracts. It differs from Licuala adscendens , L. coccinisedes and L. flexuosa by having a truncate calyx and a petiole that is armed at the very base only. It differs from Licuala essigii by having leaves that are 75–80 cm across as opposed to 80–100 cm across, and by having 2–3 cm long first order branches, as opposed to 10–12 cm long.

Solitary palm to 4 m tall. Stem 6–8 cm in diam., covered distally by persistent leaf bases. Leaves with 20–25 cm long brown sheath, disintegrating in fibrous mesh, later lost; petiole 50–80(–100) cm, in fully developed leaves, 12–14 mm wide at the base, 4–6 mm wide below the insertion of the lamina, covered by a mix of scattered black dots and ferruginous hairs, the latter increasing in density towards the margins, lower 1 / 3 to ½ armed with up to 3–4 mm long recurved spines, unevenly sized and somewhat irregularly distributed; lamina divided in 14–17 segments, truncate at the apex, mid-segment 45–50 cm long, with 4–6 adaxial ribs, 8–12 cm wide and truncate apically; lateral segments 35–40 cm long, with 3–4 adaxial ribs, 3.5–6 cm wide apically and increasingly oblique apices towards the base; indentations leading to adaxial ribs 7–11 mm long, those leading to abaxial ribs 3–5 mm long. Inflorescences 60–80 cm, branched to second order, with 6–7 first order branches, straight to slightly curved; peduncle 15–20 cm long, contained in or barely exposed outside prophyll, covered by patches of dense ferruginous tomentum; prophyll 15–18 cm long, 2–3 cm wide at the middle, chartaceous, with patches of ferruginous ramenta, splitting irregularly in up to 2 cm deep incisions; peduncular bract missing; rachis 45–60 cm long; proximal rachis bract 15–17 cm long, similar to prophyll in texture, colour and hair cover, but not as sharply keeled, slightly inflated at the middle, typically with up to 4 cm deep split along one of the lateral facies; peduncle of proximal first order branch hidden in subtending bract, rachis 2–3 cm long, carrying 7–9 rachillae, both rachis and rachillae covered by ferruginous tomentum. Flowers in pairs basally to solitary distally, hermaphroditic, subtending bracts a shallow rim to 0.5 mm long, pedicels ca. 0.5 mm long; calyx ca. 2.5 mm long, glabrous, truncate or with shallow lobes; staminal ring about 1 mm high, anthers biseriate. Fruit globose, 12−15 mm in diam., yellow to red at maturity, mesocarp 3−4 mm thick, endocarp brittle, slightly grooved longitudinally. Seed 6–7 mm in diam.

Distribution and habitat: ―Restricted to Manus Island where it grows in lowland rainforest

Local names: ― Sanin (Manus)

Uses: ―none recorded

Conservation status: ―Endangered. Licuala sandsiana has a restricted distribution. Deforestation due to logging concessions is a major threat in its distribution range.

Etymology: ―Named after the collector of the type, M.J.S. Sands, to pay tribute to his great contribution to our knowledge of the flora of New Guinea in general and Manus Island in particular.

Specimens examined:― PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Manus Province: Manus Island, near Bundrahei Primary School, 30 m, 2 ° 10’S, 146 ° 40’E, 28 October 1974, Foreman 59210 (BH!, L!,); Silin Administrative Center, 20 m, 2 ° 9’S, 146 ° 33’E, 30 March 1981, Kerenga 77563 (K!, L!, USF); 1 km SW of Kabuli village, sea level, 2 ° 7’S, 146 ° 40’E, 24 November 1975, Sands et al. 2768 (K!, L!, LAE!); Wili River between Pelikawa and Dremsel, ca. 150 m, 2 ° 7’S, 146 ° 44’E, 24 June 1971, Stone 10452 (LAE!, BH!) .

Notes: ―Only a few flowers past anthesis were available for description.