Abstract
SummaryA taxonomic revision is presented of the Hydriastele wendlandiana group, a well-defined species grouping within the Indo-Pacific palm genus Hydriastele that occurs in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and northern Australia. We accept five species: Hydriastele kasesa, H. rheophytica, H. variabilis, H. wendlandiana and H. apetiolata sp. nov. and provide fundamental information about each of those taxa including a summary of the group’s taxonomic history and phylogeny, a distribution map, a key to the species, species descriptions with scientific illustrations, and IUCN Red List assessments.
Highlights
Wendl. & Drude (Arecoideae: Areceae) currently contains 49 accepted species (Govaerts et al 2017). Most of these occur in Papuasia, but the genus extends to Sulawesi, northern Australia, Fiji and Palau (Dransfield et al 2008)
The floral arrangement, with flowers arranged in units of three, is typical of the Arecoideae, and in Hydriastele the triads are inserted throughout the length of the rachillae
It occurs in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, northern Australia, and immediately adjacent islands, and is distinguished from the rest of the genus by its slender to moderate growth habit combined with protogynous inflorescences in which the stigmas are congenitally exposed
Summary
We present a monograph of an infrageneric species grouping within Hydriastele, a monophyletic group identified by Loo et al (2006) that we term Hydriastele wendlandiana group It occurs in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, northern Australia, and immediately adjacent islands, and is distinguished from the rest of the genus by its slender to moderate growth habit combined with protogynous inflorescences in which the stigmas are congenitally exposed (i.e. not covered by perianth, even in bud; Essig 1973; Uhl & Dransfield 1987).
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