Two New Species of Maesa (Myrsinaceae) from Puncak Jaya, New Guinea. Contributions to the Flora of Mt Jaya, I

Abstract

Summary. Maesa beamanii and M. procumbens are described as new from New Guinea. Maesa procumbens has a unique anther arrangement not found in other members of the genus. The genus Maesa Forssk. comprises some 150 species distributed throughout the Old World. It was last monographed by Mez (1902), and the New Guinea members were revised by Sleumer (1987), who recognised 26 species. During studies of material in BO, and recent collections from expeditions to the Freeport Concession in Irian Jaya, two morphologically distinct entities were identified. These could not be matched with any known species, and are described here as new. The type and distribution of indumentum in Maesa is taxonomically very useful (Utteridge 1998). There are two components to the indumentum in the genus, single-celled hairs of variable length, and irregularly shaped peltate scales. Indumentum terminology follows Hewson (1988); glabrous, for example, is used to describe an absence of trichomes, i.e., hairs and scales, rather than a surface that is 'not rough' (e.g., Stearn 1983).