Novitates neocaledonicae XIV: A third species of Goniothalamus (Blume) Hook.f. & Thomson from New Caledonia and lectotypification of G. obtusatus (Baill.) RMK Saunders

A new species is described from New Caledonia in the genus Goniothalamus, which now includes three endemic species from the archipelago. The new species was first collected over 150 years ago, but had not been subsequently studied until now. Material of the New Caledonian taxa was included in a recent molecular phylogeny, which shows that they are related and belong to the same clade, but they are easily distinguished from one another by morphology. Goniothalamus hmoope sp. nov. differs from G. obtusatus by its smaller leaves and its monocarps that are terete and 3-8 seeded (vs narrowly ellipsoid, ellipsoid, subglobose to obovoid, 1-3-seeded), and from G. dumontetii by its flat leaves with plane secondary veins (versus slightly bullate with impressed venation), and its monocarps that are terete (vs flattened elongate with lateral triangular projections). The new species, which is restricted to the North Province and can be abundant in the Mt. Panie range, was assessed by the New Caledonian Red List Authority as Vulnerable (VU) based on the IUCN Red List criteria.

Automated summary

A new species of Goniothalamus from New Caledonia is described in this article. It is one of the three endemic species from the archipelago. The new species was collected over 150 years ago, but its study was not done until recently. Molecular phylogeny analysis shows that the New Caledonian taxa are related and belong to the same clade, but they can be distinguished by their morphology. The new species is assessed as Vulnerable based on IUCN Red List criteria by the New Caledonian Red List Authority.