🌳 The Baobab Tree: Nature’s Enduring “Tree of Life”

Baobab trees, the “Tree of Life,” store water, sustain ecosystems, and embody resilience across Africa, Madagascar, and Australia.

Turraea sambiranensis Callmander & Nusbaumer 2024, sp. nov. - Plazi TreatmentBank

Sorbus erythrosepala Kainul., Sjoman, Alden 2023, sp. nov. - Plazi TreatmentBank

New species and new status of Urophyllum Wall. (Rubiaceae) from Cambodia and Viêtnam

Five new species of Urophyllum Wall. endemic to Cambodia and Viêtnam are herein described and illustrated, and U. annamense (Pierre ex Pit.) Yooprasert, Culham & Utteridge, stat. nov. is raised to species status. The new species are unique due to the morphological combination of indumentum, secondary venation, stipule shape and inflorescence structure as follows: U. bidoupense Yooprasert, Culham & Utteridge, sp. nov.: plant almost glabrous, secondary veins weakly brochidodromous, stipule glabrous, oblong-lanceolate; U. chinense subsp. latistipulum Yooprasert, Culham, Yahara & Utteridge, subsp. nov.: similar appearance to the U. bidoupense but differs with stipule ovate to elliptic, hairy along the midline; U. brochidodromum Yooprasert, Culham & Utteridge, sp. nov.: stem and branches hairy, adaxial leaf surface hairy on midrib and secondary veins, secondary veins conspicuously brochidodromous, stipule hairy, lanceolate; U. pulchristipulum Yooprasert, Culham & Utteridge, sp. nov.: plant glabrous, secondary veins festooned brochidodromous, stipule glabrous and subcordate, inflorescence sessile; U. pseudoschmidtii Yooprasert, Culham, Yahara, Tagane & Utteridge, sp. nov.: stem and branches hairy to subglabrous, secondary veins festooned brochidodromous, stipule sparsely to densely hairy, linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, pistillate flower with no staminodes. An identification key to Urophyllum species of Cambodia, Laos and Viêtnam is provided. Point occurrence maps are presented for each species, as well as provisional conservation assessments based on IUCN guidelines. GBIF dataset   Distribution map

Novitates neocaledonicae XII: Two additional new species of Cryptocarya R.Br.from New Caledonia

Two endemic species of Cryptocarya R.Br. are described from New Caledonia. Cryptocarya conduplicata Munzinger & McPherson, sp. nov. was previously confused with C. aristata Kosterm., which it resembles in its typically numerous lenticels and oblate fruit, but from which it differs most noticeably in its leaf blades partly folded longitudinally (vs blades flat), and its smaller fruits (13-15 mm long vs 20-30 mm long). Cryptocarya ovoidea Munzinger & McPherson, sp. nov. can be distinguished most easily from C. pluricostata, its sister species according to molecular data, by its indument (hairs sparse, whitish, cream-grey to blackish, quickly falling vs. hairs dense, ferrugineous sublanate and subpersistent in C. pluricostata). As well, the fruit of C. ovoidea, sp. nov. is ovoid and its perianth is caducous, in contrast to the fruit of C. pluricostata, which is ellipsoid and retains its perianth. The two new species are trees occurring in dense humid forest, and are restricted to non-ultramafic substrate. Cryptocarya conduplicata sp. nov. is common, known from three protected areas, and is assigned a preliminarily Least Concern IUCN status, while C. ovoidea sp. nov. is only known from two individuals on Mont Aoupinié, a protected area, where many inventory plots were established without finding any individuals; thus, we assign it a preliminary status of Critically Endangered (CR).GBIF dataset   Distribution map