Licuala essigii Barfod & Heatubun, 2022

Barfod, Anders S. & Heatubun, Charlie D., 2022, Seven new species of Licuala (Livistoninae, Arecaceae) from New Guinea, Phytotaxa 555 (1), pp. 1-16 : 8

4. Licuala essigii Barfod & Heatubun , sp. nov.

Type :― PAPUA NEW GUINEA. West Sepik Province: road to logging area, 2 miles W of Vanimo, 120 m, 2°40’S, 141°15’E, Essig 55080 (holotype BH !, isotype LAE!).

Figure 5.

Diagnosis: ―Differs from Licuala flexuosa by having petioles with spines basally only, first order inflorescence branches bearing up to 15 second order branches, and smaller flowers with a pubescent calyx and shallow lobes.

Solitary, mid–sized palm. Stem 3–6 m tall. Leaf sheath 20–30 cm long, disintegrating into a fibrous mesh; petiole 120–150 cm long, 10–12 mm wide basally, 7–9 mm wide below insertion of lamina, covered distally by scattered ferruginous tomentum, armed on lower 1/10 with up to 2 mm long slightly recurved spines; lamina divided in 13–17 segments, these with scattered ferruginous ramenta towards the base on the abaxial side; mid-segment 55–70 cm long, with 20–24 adaxial ribs, radial margins straight, 25–30 cm wide at the apex, truncate; lateral segments 40–50 cm long, with 4–5 adaxial ribs, 5–6 cm wide apically, truncate; basal segments, 3.5–4.5 cm wide apically, with 3–4 adaxial ribs, obliquely truncate; indentations 5–7 mm long, those leading to adaxial ribs broadly U–shaped, those leading to abaxial ribs V-shaped. Inflorescence 70–80 cm long, erect with 4–5 first order branches; peduncle 32–38 cm long, covered or only slightly exposed at flowering; prophyll inserted 6–8 cm above the peduncle base, 13–15 cm long, loosely fitting, chartaceous, basally with dense ferruginous tomentum along the keels, apical splits irregular, no more than 1.5 cm long; peduncular bract lacking; rachis straight to slightly curved distally; proximal rachis bract 17–19 cm long, inserted near the opening of the prophyll, loosely fitting, with up to 3 cm long irregular apical splits, otherwise similar to prophyll in texture and hair cover; first order branches erect, the proximal one with 3–4 cm long peduncle, basally hidden in the rachis bract, 10–12 cm long main rachis, carrying up 15 rachillae, these 6–8 cm long, pubescent, curved. Flowers solitary, subtended by minute bracts, pedicels 0.3–0.5 mm long; calyx urceolate, 3–3.5 mm long, distally membranous and striate after drying, slightly pubescent at the base and distally, breaking up irregularly, almost truncate; corolla 3.5–4 mm long, lobes ca. 2 mm long; staminal tube fused to corolla for 1.4–1.6 mm, staminal ring ca. 1 mm long, anthers inserted in two levels, 0.5–0.6 mm long; ovary 1.6–1.8 mm long, style ca. 1 mm long. Fruit and seed not seen.

Distribution: ―Only collected once in 1971 near Vanimo in the north–western part of Papua New Guinea.

Habitat: ―Lowland rainforest at sea level to 50 m

Local names: ―None recorded.

Conservation status: ―Critically Endangered. Licuala essigii is known from only one site where it is threatened by a logging concession. Additional localities have not been found through subsequent fieldwork.

Etymology: ―Named in honour of Frederick B. Essig, whose fieldwork in PNG in the 1970s yielded many exciting discoveries.