Alyxia pseudoserpentina Boiteau (1979: 448)

Alyxia pseudoserpentina Boiteau (1979: 448) View in CoL .

Holotype:— NEW CALEDONIA, Bosquets des environs de Nouméa , September 1868, Balansa 221: P [ P00072157 !]; isotype: A [ A00054878 !]; P [ P00072158 !]; Z [ Z-000030175 !] ( Figs. 13 View FIGURE 13 , 15 View FIGURE 15 )

= Alyxia microcarpa Pancher ex Boiteau (1979: 449) View in CoL . Lectotype (designated here):— NEW CALEDONIA, dans les massifs, sur les coteaux argilo-schisteux, Pancher 308, P [P00072141!—left hand parts], syn. nov.

Species circumscription: — Alyxia pseudoserpentina View in CoL was considered as a distinct species by Boiteau (1979, 1981), and then included in A. tisserantii View in CoL by Middleton (2002). According to Boiteau’s (1981) key, the species was characterized, within the Globuliferae series, by subsessile axillary inflorescences, and small membraneous leaves. We confirm Boiteau’s conclusion, and circumscribed the species based on the short inflorescence peduncle (0.5–4 mm), and a corolla tube 2.6–3.6 mm long. It is similar to some forms of A. tisserantii View in CoL as circumscribed here, but differs from it by the shorter inflorescence primary axis (0.5–4 mm vs 4.2–12 mm), and longer corolla tube (2.6–3.6 mm vs 1.1–2.2 mm). Sterile material is also distinguishable by the very prominent nodes on stems and chartaceous leaves, instead of coriaceous ones in A. tisserantii View in CoL . Finally, this species is restricted to coastal dry forests on non-ultramafic substrates, while A. tisserantii View in CoL grows in ultramafic shrublands.

Distribution and habitat:— A. pseudoserpentina is found at low altitude (elev. 0–250 m) on the west coast of Grande Terre. It grows in sclerophyllous vegetations on non-ultramafic substrates.

Phenology:— From herbarium specimens, flowering and fruiting seems to be distributed all year round, but irregularly. Flowers were collected in February, March, April, July, August and December. Fruits were collected from September to April, and in July.

Notes:— Boiteau (1979) described the new species as Alyxia microcarpa based on Pancher’s manuscript note on a specimen’s label at P herbarium. At that time, Boiteau (1979) wrote “ Pancher 308, coteaux argilo-siliceux, environs de Nouméa, (holo-, P)”. Later, Boiteau (1981) added an isotype in Z as “TYPE: Pancher 308 (holo-, P!; iso-, Z)” being unclear if he had seen the Zurich specimen (without “!”). Middleton (2002) added several other isotypes respectively in A, K, MEL and P. Of the four sheets of Pancher 308 at P, two (P00156842! and P04225578!) do not bear the original Alyxia microcarpa name and can be discarded from original type material. On the two other sheets bearing Pancher’s manuscript name Alyxia microcarpa , P00156841! has several numbers (Musée Néocal. 117, Pancher 308 and V.[ieillard] 2969) and localities (Tanlé and Côteaux boisés) with a morphology not matching the protologue (e.g. lamina lineari) such that this sheet could be excluded from the type material. The last sheet P00072141! is the one most closely matching Boiteau’s protologue though it is not a perfect match because of several incongruences (e.g. côteaux argilo-siliceux versus côteaux argilo-schisteux, Environs de Nouméa versus Calédonie, Frutex scandens vel sarmentosus versus Petit arbre de 3 mètres ou arbre de 4 mètres, Corolla glabris versus Tube intérieurement velu sous le point d’insertion des étamines, fruit on the sheet versus no fruit description). Because Boiteau (1979) asserted that the species had been studied with living specimens in “Parc de Montravel (Nouméa)” and because he has speculated that this locality was most probably the one where Pancher collected the specimen, we can conclude that Boiteau’s protologue is based on both this Pancher sheet and in situ observations in Parc de Montravel. It could also be inferred that Boiteau overinterpreted Pancher’s label in correcting “côteaux argilo-schisteux” to “côteaux argilo-siliceux” and “Calédonie” to “Environs de Nouméa”. In addition P00072141 has three branches and two labels on it so it could be easily concluded that they represent at least two different gatherings based on label information, state of drying and morphology. Based on the morphology described in the protologue and based on Fig. 23.10 in Boiteau (1981: 119) who referred this drawing to Pancher 308, we can confidently select the two branches on the left of the sheet as the lectotype along with the upper label. The single fallen linear leaf in the pocket might also be considered as part of the lectotype. The fruit is not described in the protologue though the epithet name proposed by Pancher refers to a small fruit. The fruit articles in the pocket are related to the bottom label (“fruits noirs”) and most probably to the right branch. This label, fruits in the pocket and right branch thus represents a second gathering (a common practice at that time by Pancher, Deplanche and Vieillard- see Morat 2010, Lannuzel et al. 2022c) and so do not belong to the lectotype.

Pancher 308 specimens from A (A00054880), MEL (MEL727291), and Z (Z-000000963) seem to belong to one gathering, regarding the leaf shape and drying, but are different from P00072141, with shorter leaves. They are however very similar to P00156841 and probably represent the same collection. The specimen cited by Middleton (2002) at K could not be retrieved during this study. The specimen P00072141, narrower as defined here, is thus considered as the lectotype without any isolectotypes.

Specimen examined:— NEW CALEDONIA: North Province; Pouembout, conservatoire botanique de Tiéa, 3 August 2000, Dagostini 180 ( NOU058340 !, P05391646!) ; s.l., Deplanche 287 (P04260828!); Gatope , Godefroy 4581 (L.2699561!) ; Corne de Koumac, elev. 250 m, 10 July 1972, MacKee 25666 (P04260846!, P05236766!) ; Baaba, elev. 40 m, 28 July 2004, Munzinger 2383 ( NOU006843 !, P04551211!) ; s.l., Pancher 308 (A00054880!, MEL727291 !,Z-000000963!) ; Presqu'île de Pindaï, 1 July 1987, Veillon 6409 ( NOU058336 !) ; Pouembout: forêt Berton, elev. 20 m, 11 October 1988, Veillon 7022 ( NOU058339 !) ; Poum, Pointe Olan, elev. 10 m, 22 July 1997, Veillon 8001 (L.3729956!, NOU058224 !, P04220392!) ; Gatope , 1861, Vieillard 2967 (P04220356!) ; Balade , 1855, Vieillard 953 (P04220383!) ; South Province; Bosquets des environs de Nouméa, Balansa 221 (A00054878!, L.3729893!, P00072157!, P00072158!) ; Nouméa, dans les bois, 1 December 1868, Balansa 1405 (P04225807!, P04225808!, P04225809!) ; Ouen Toro, 27 July 1950, Baumann-Bodenheim 5024 (P04225788!, US2316448 !) ; Ile Moro, 5 March 1951, Baumann-Bodenheim 11103 (L.3718461!, P04260819!) ; Ouen Toro, 17 May 1951, Baumann-Bodenheim 13340 (L.2702472!, L.3729891!, L.3729892!, P04260818!, US2316654 !) ; s.l., elev. 100 m, 1 March 1901, Cribs 1208 (P04226183!) ; Gouaro Deva, 13 October 2005, Dagostini 976 ( NOU009447 !) ; Caricaté St Vincent, 13 December 1924, Däniker 766 (L.2699525!, P04260830!) ; Pointe Noire Boulouparis, elev. 50 m, 21°56'26''S, 166°1'48''E, 1 August 2015, Fleurot 77 ( NOU082018 !) GoogleMaps ; Presqu’ile Ducos, 28 February 1951, Guillaumin 11059 (L.2699560!, L.3729896!, P04260827!, WAG.1475203!, US2316580 !) ; Ile Moro, 6 March 1951, Guillaumin , Baumann-Bodenheim & Hürlimann 11145 (L.3735041!, P04260820!, US2316584 !) ; Porokoué, 19 February 2007, Hequet 3579 ( NOU016928 !, P04551216!) ; Gouaro Deva, Pic Deva, 21°33'38''S, 165°18'50''E, 14 November 2009, Hequet 3810 ( NOU052814 !) GoogleMaps ; Ilot montagnès, 5 September 1988, Jaffré 2982 ( NOU058227 !, P04260826!) ; Ste Marie , près Nouméa, 1903, Le Rat 325 (P04225711!) ; Anse Vata, 23 January 1955, MacKee 1975 ( BISH130275 !, L.2699530!, P04260831!, US2187151 !) ; Nouméa: Parc forestier Montravel, elev. 30 m, 2 March 1965, MacKee 12177 (L.2702487!, MO1114215 !, NOU058345 !, P04225753!) ; Nouméa: Montravel (Parc forestier), elev. 50 m, 12 March 1966, MacKee 14527 (L.2699524!, P04225748!) ; Nouméa: Presqu’Ile Ducos Koumourou, elev. 50 m, 14 April 1970, MacKee 21784 ( NOU058228 !, P04260829!) ; Nouméa: Parc forestier Montravel, elev. 50 m, 9 August 1971, MacKee 24049 (L.2699545!, MO1114208 !, P04225592!, WAG.1475211!) ; Nouméa: Baie Tina, elev. 10 m, 24 July 1973, MacKee 26983 (L.2699509!, NOU058237 !, P04225589!) ; Nouméa: Baie Tina, elev. 10 m, 24 March 1974, MacKee 28361 (L.2699507!, MO1114217 !, P04225586!) ; Nouméa: Ouen Toro, elev. 50 m, 15 February 1975, MacKee 29764 ( MO1114216 !, L.2702488!, P04225585!) ; Bouloupari: Ile Leprédour, elev. 200 m, 28 April 1978, MacKee 35059 (L.2702467!, P04225544!, P04551327!) ; Païta: Ngoué, elev. 50 m, 9 March 1980, MacKee 37888 (L.2702440!, NOU058229 !, P04260822!, P04551289!) ; Bourail: Les Montagnes Blanches, elev. 250 m, 11 February 1981, MacKee 38739 (P04225540!) ; Bourail: Les Montagnes Blanches, 11 February 1981, MacKee 38743 ( NOU058285 !) ; Ile Nou: Mt. Téréka, elev. 100 m, 26 January 1983, MacKee 41194 (P04225603!) ; La Foa: Ile Isié, elev. 10 m, 20 September 1985, MacKee 42831 (L.2702426!, NOU058222 !, P04260821!, P05236822!) ; La Foa: Ile Isié, elev. 10 m, 20 September 1985, MacKee 42833 (L.2702476!, NOU058342 !, P04226229!) ; Tontouta: Uitoé, elev. 60 m, 19 November 1986, MacKee 43353 ( NOU058225 !, P04225604!) ; Côteaux boisés, Pancher 308 (P00072141!, P00156841!) ; Nouméa , Pancher 577 (P04225571!, P04236771!) ; Côteaux boisés, Pancher s.n. (P00072142!, P04225568!, P04225569!, P04225570!) ; Montravel, 14 February 1965, Schmid 86 ( NOU058343 !) ; Lepredour, 23 May 2002, Suprin 2651 ( NOU001580 !) ; Ile Lepredour, 21 December 1977, Veillon 3431 (L.2702473!, NOU058347 !, P04236831!, P04260852!, P04551326!, P05236767!) ; Ile Leprédour, 28 July 1988, Veillon 6855 ( NOU058346 !) ; Bourail: embouchure de la deva, elev. 130 m, 11 December 1990, Veillon 7286 ( NOU058230 !, P04220396!) ; Moindou, elev. 30 m, 29 November 1995, Veillon 7882 ( NOU058284 !) ; Port de France , 1855, Vieillard 956 (P04226177!, P04226178!, P04226179!) ; Nouméa, Port Despointes, elev. 40 m, 14 November 1942, Virot 808 (P04220377!) ; Port-Despointes, elev. 50 m, 21 November 1942, Virot 845 (P04220378!) ; Bois de Port-Despointes, elev. 30 m, 13 December 1942, Virot 915 (P04220376!) .