Four New Species of Terminalia L. (Combretaceae) from Melanesia

Abstract

Revision of the genus Terminalia L. for the Department of Forests, Territory of Papua & New Guinea has revealed one new species from New Britain and New Ireland, one from the New Guinea mainland and two more from the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. At least one, T. archipelagi, is likely to be of considerable interest to the Territory's timber industry. Dr. A. W. Exell's account of Combretaceae (in Fl. Males., Ser. 1, 4(5): 533-628 (1954)) provides the invaluable framework for all studies of Terminalia in Melanesia. On it van Royen based Part i of the 'Foresters' Manual for Papua & New Guinea' which is now out of print. Since then, however, many new collections have been made, mostly by staff of the Forestry Department of the Territory, by C.S.I.R.O. Resources Survey staff based in Canberra, and by the Forestry Department of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, principally Dr. T. C. Whitmore. The correlation of the Solomon Island material with that of Papua & New Guinea has forced us to reconsider the usages of some of the names published, which was not necessary for Flora Malesiana (and probably was not possible in 1954). A later paper will set out the details and reasons for the changes. We are grateful to the Conservator of Forests, Honiara, B.S.I.P., and the Government Botanist, Brisbane, for the loan of specimens, and to Mrs. Damaris Pearce, of the Division of Botany, Department of Forests, for her illustrations. I myself am grateful to my colleagues at the Division of Botany, particularly to the Chief of the Division, Mr. J. S. Womersley, for his considerable knowledge, experience and helpfulness, and to Messrs. E. E. Henty, A. N. Gillison and C. E. Ridsdale for their help and their enthusiasm in the field.