Monoon merrillii (Kaneh.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge

Turner, Ian M. & Utteridge, Timothy M. A., 2017, Annonaceae in the Western Pacific: geographic patterns and four new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 339, pp. 1-44 : 28-29

Monoon merrillii (Kaneh.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge comb. nov.

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77164172-1

Basionym: Polyalthia merrillii Kaneh., Flora Micronesica : 108–109, fig. 30 ( Kanehira 1933a). – Type: Palau, Tôdaiyama [Pelew Island], a small coral island near Korror, in primary forests at 200 m a.s.l., Aug. 1932, R. Kanehira 2025 (hololecto-, designated here: FU, sheet bearing the original field label mounted on the top left; isolecto-: FU, US 00098670; Fig. 15 ).

Regional distribution

Palau.

Notes

Originally published in Japanese, a Latin description appeared in print soon after ( Kanehira 1933b: 669– 670). The species is apparently still only known from Kanehira’s type collection and the flowers remain uncollected. Images were available to us of type material from the Herbarium of Kyushu University in Japan (FU), and US. The herringbone secondary venation with decurrent insertion to the midrib, scalariform tertiary venation and the form of the fruits indicates that the species belongs in Monoon rather than Polyalthia s. str., so we make a new combination for it here. Interestingly the Palau species has unusual asymmetic leaf bases similar to those of Monoon pachypetalum sp. nov. from New Guinea. The distinctly stipitate fruits of M. merrillii show that it is not the same species as Monoon pachypetalum sp. nov.

Figures

Fig. 15. Lectotype of Polyalthia merrillii Kaneh. Right-hand image has the label folded back to reveal the obscured parts of the specimen. Images provided by the Herbarium of Kyushu University (FU), Japan.