Abstract
The climbing genus Ventilago Gaertn. (Rhamnaceae) is revised in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The description of V. pseudcalyculata Guillaumin was based on four gatherings (syntypes). The name is lectotypified with a specimen from Lifou, and the species is now considered to be restricted to the Loyalty Islands, while the specimens from Grande Terre (the main island of New Caledonia) are treated as a new species, V. tinctoria Cahen, Toussirot & Pillon. A total of four endemic species are therefore recognized in New Caledonia: V. buxoides Baill., V. neocaledonica Schltr. and V. tinctoria from Grande Terre and V. pseudocalyculata from the Loyalty Islands. The plants from Vanuatu, often identified as V. neocaledonica, are treated here as a new species, V. vanuatuana Cahen, Toussirot & Pillon, endemic to that archipelago.Citation: Cahen D., Toussirot M. & Pillon Y. 2020: A revision of Ventilago (Rhamnaceae) in New Caledonia and Vanuatu with notes on dyeing properties. – Willdenowia 50: 253–266.Version of record first published online on 12 June 2020 ahead of inclusion in August 2020 issue.
Highlights
Rhamnaceae are represented by about ten species in seven genera in New Caledonia (Morat & al. 2012; Munzinger & al. 2012+)
Natural dyes are an integral component of cultural heritage worldwide, and the use of plant-derived dyes in the Pacific Ocean is the subject of ongoing research (e.g. Cardon 2007; Cardon & al. 2010: Toussirot & al. 2012, 2014)
Studies conducted with the University of New Caledonia examined the dyeing and biological properties of the Ventilago species present in New Caledonia and Vanuatu (Blanc 2008; Cardon & al. 2010; Toussirot 2014)
Summary
Rhamnaceae are represented by about ten species in seven genera in New Caledonia (Morat & al. 2012; Munzinger & al. 2012+). The genus is present in Vanuatu, where the material has often been determined as Ventilago neocaledonica (e.g. Guillaumin 1948b), but is identified here as belonging to a distinct endemic species: V. vanuatuana Cahen, Toussirot & Pillon (see Remarks for V. vanuatuana and Notes on dyeing properties). The archipelago is located very near New Caledonia, with Aneityum just over 200 km northeast of the Loyalty Islands and 350 km from Grande Terre, and in some cases phytogeographic relationships between the two archipelagos are strong (Lowry 1989), despite most plants possibly coming to Vanuatu from the northwest from Malesia via New Guinea and the Solomons, and from Fiji (Ramon & Sam 2015) Given their geographic proximity and because of previous misidentifications of Vanuatu material as V. neo caledonica, the genus is advantageously studied for both areas together and its taxonomy is revised here for both New Caledonia and Vanuatu
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