Phyllanthaceae, Martinov, 1820

Takeuchi, Wayne, 2012, Additions to the flora of the southern mountains of Papua New Guinea: Begonia chambersiae sp. nov. (Begoniaceae), Kibara renneriae sp. nov. (Monimiaceae), and distributional records of four rarely seen taxa, Phytotaxa 52 (1), pp. 43-53 : 51

Phyllanthaceae ( Euphorbiaceae sens. lat. subfam. Phyllanthoideae )

Aporosa decipiens Pax & Hoffmann (1922: 83) . Type:— PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Western District: Kiunga, swamp forest, 6°07'S, 141°17'E, ca. 200 ft (60 m), 24 July 1967, Ridsdale & Galore NGF 33470 (neotype [designated by Schot 2004: 290] LAE!; isoneotypes BO, K, L). Fig. 8 .

Additional specimen examined: — PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Western Province: Muller Range, Gugusu , lowland hill forest, 5°43.575'S, 142°15.630'E, 535 m, 9 September 2009, Takeuchi, Ama & Gamui 24547 ( A!, LAE!, and 5 undistributed duplicates!) .

Aporosa decipiens Pax & Hoffmann (1922: 83) was previously known from only three specimens, all originating along the border between PNG and Indonesian Papua ( Schot 2004; Fig. 3 : I). The species is apparently endemic to the Fly River biome (sensu Miller et al. 1995) of south-central New Guinea.

The Muller Range occurrence establishes an eastern distributional endpoint on limestone. Unlike earlier collections (all taken from alluvial habitats below 60 m), the latest gathering is from Massenerhebung premontane forest.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Island of New Guinea. Collection localities. A, Muller Range, type locality for Begonia chambersiae; B, Lakekamu, type locality for Kibara renneriae; C, Wabo; D, Tualapa; E, Juha North; F, Lordberg; G, Mt. Bosavi; H, Dieni; I, Kiunga; J, Mt. Amdutakin. Overlay (shaded area) shows distribution of the southern karst formations. A–E from the author's recent collections; F–J from historical localities of earlier collectors.

FIGURE 8. Aporosa decipiens. A, fruiting branchlets; B, closer view of capsule. A–B from Takeuchi, Ama & Gamui 24547.