-" A of "Nut" Trees of the Southwest Pacific c. T. WHITE1

INTRODUCTION

A FAMILY with a most interesting and F. Muell., F. Muell., D arlin"gia F; intriguing distribution is , which finds Muell., F. Muell. (two spp.) , Mus­ its greatest development in Australia (650 " gravea F. Muell., and White & species) on the one hand and South Africa (300 Francis. A surprising feature is the absence, species) on the other, though the two countries with the exception of one species in New Zea­ have no genera in common. Practically all the land, of the family "from Polynesia. South African species and the vast majority of There is in the islands of the southwest Paci­ "Australian ones are markedly xerophytic. The fic-Caroline Islands, , Solomon largest genus, Greoillea R. Br., consists mainly Islands, and the New Hebrides-a group of trees of xerophytic shrubs or small trees but a few with the floral characters of Greuillea R. Br. are large trees found in the rain forests of and the of Lour. These, I consider, tropical and subtropical eastern Australia, New all belong 'to Finschia Warb. This genus was Guinea, and New Caledonia. In the southwest founded by Warburg (1891: 297 ) on"a tree Pacific area the family finds its greatest develop­ from northeastern New Guinea. His original ment in northeastern Australia, where trees be­ description would cover R. Br. exactly longing to it provide the great bulk of cabinet though he does not mention this genus and on timbers known in the trade as "Silky ." the following page the distinctions he gives for There is close affinity between the Proteaceae of separating his proposed new genus from H elicia eastern Australia and of western South America are exactly those which distinguish Greuillea as illustrated by the genera Forst. from that genus. H. Sleumer (1939:127), in a which has four species in South America, two more recent contribution to our knowledge of in Australia, and one in New Guinea, and PapuanProteaceae, includes Finscbi« Warb. in R. Br. which has four species in South Greoillea R. Br. and gives a key to the New America and eight in Australia. The endemic Guinean species. Lauterbach (1913: 329 ), in Australian genus Telopea R. Br. is separated a key to the Papuan genera of Proteaceae, dis­ from Embothrium Forst. on very slender tinguishes Finscbia Warb. from Grevillea R. Br. grounds, and Diels (1916: 200), with some by the fruit being scarcely dehiscent. Later doubt, records the genus Salisb., other­ Diels (1916: 205), in an account of new wise consisting of eight South American species, Papuan Proteaceae, referred to this and stated as Papuan and Australian (one species each) . that Lauterbach's conclusions were unfounded as An outstanding feature of the flora of the of neither F. mfa Warb. nor F. cbloro­ rain-forest belt of northeastern Australia is the xantha Diels, the only two species so far de­ number of rnonotypic or very small genera of Proteaceae developed in it, e. g., Austromaellera scribed, were known. An emended description C. T. White, F. Muell., of the genus and a key to the species are offered here, a new species is described, and a" new 1 Government Botanist, Brisbane, Queens land, Aus­ tralia . Manuscript received July 9, 1948. combination proposed. [ 187 ] 188 PACIFIC SCiENCE , Vol. III, Jul y, 11949

Finschia Warburg and myself in 1945-1946 and the latter those (Emended description) made in New Guinea under the direction of hermaphroditic, Petals (perianth seg­ Major J. ' B. McAdam, C.R.E." New Guinea ments ) curved and united in the bud stage, Forests, by officers and men of his unit head­ soon free. Anthers sessile or nearly so within quarters and two associated forest survey com­ the concave laminae or tips of the petals, con­ panies. nective broad, not produced beyond the anther 1. Finschia rufa Warburg (1891: 298) cells, anther cells slightly divergent towards the Greoillea rufa (Warburg) Sleumer (1939: base. Torus oblique. Hypogynous gland fleshy, 128). entire, horseshoe-shaped or nearly annular; ovary Tree. large, coriaceous, shortly petio­ sripirare, style slender or narrowly clavate, late, apex obtuse or rorundate, base acuminate, usually long and protruding from the split on entire, adult leaves glabrous above, the midrib the lower side of the perianth tube in the later and main nerves rather prominent, rufous- or bud stage; Fruit an indehiscent drupe; exocarp ferruginous-tomentose beneath, the midrib, lat­ thin, fleshy; endocarp bony, rough ; cotyledons eral nerves, and the veins very prominent, lateral , 2, thick and fleshy and filling the seed. Trees, nerves about 20 on each side of the midrib, not trunk buttressed, often raised on stilt roots. markedly curved, joined below the margin and Leaves entire. racemose, racemes united with an intramarginal vein close to the axillary or on the older wood below the leaves. edge; blade 25-35 cm. long, 11-13 ( to 17) em. Type species.F, rufaWarb. (18910: 297) . wide; petiole 2 em. long. Racemes 17-40 em. Fourspecies in the rain forests of Micronesia long; rachis, pedicels, and flowers densely clothed (Caroline Islands ) , New Guinea, Solomon with red-brown hairs (rufous-villous). Flowers Islands, and the New Hebrides. solitary or in pairs, pedicels 1 mm . long;' petals Key to the Species (perianth segments) about 1 em. long, glabrous Leaves densely rufous- or ferruginous-pubes­ on 'the inner face; ovary stipitate, seated ob­ cent beneath. liquely.on a 3-mm. long sripes.sryle 7 mm .long; Leaves 28-35 em. long, 11-13 ( to 17) torus oblique, hypogynous gland annular or cm. wide; inflorescence to 40 cm. nearly so. Fruit unknown. long ' 1. F. rufa Northeast New Guinea: Only known from Leaves 18-25 (to 28 ) em. long, 6-9 em. broad; inflorescence, 24-26 cm. long the neighbourhood of Sattelberg where, accord­ · ...... '...... 2. F. Carrii ing to Sleumer, loco cit., it has been collected Leaves glabrous. several times. (Wa1'burg 20496, type: H ellwig Flowers very densely ferruginous-pubes­ 531, Clemens 2234 and 8094 A .) cent; fruit globose, not laterally com- Unforrunately I have not seen specimens and pressed, over 4 em. diam. . . the above description is drawn from that of · ...... 3. F. ferruginiflo1'a Flowers thinly ferruginous-pubescent in the author's original and from the few notes in the bud stage, almost glabrous when Sleumer's key, According to Warburg, the fully developed; fruit laterally com­ pedicels are only 1 mm . long, which would pressed, not above 4 cm.diam. ... . give the inflorescence almost a spicate appear­ ·...... 4. F., chloroxantha ance which, apart from the larger leaves, should In the following account of the species the distinguish it from the next species. letters B.S.I.P. and N .G.F., preceding the col­ lectors' numbers, stand for British Solomon 2. Finschia Carrii (Sleumer ) C. T. White Islands Protectorate and New Guinea Forests, com b. nov. respectively. The first precedes all specimens Greoille« Carrii Sleumer (1939: 128 ) . collected in the by F. S. Walker Tree, about 12 m. high, branchlers densely Genus FinJchia-WHITE 189

FIG. 1. Finschia ferruginijlora c. T. White. New Guinea: L. S. Smith 1093 (flowers) and 1060 (fruits). A, (slightly enlarged); B, gynaeceum (slightly enlarged ) ; C. fruit. 190 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. III, July, 1949

rufous- or ferruginous-pubescent. Leaves nar­ bruneo lenticellarum rimis notato, ramulis vali­ rowly obovate, apex rounded, base cuneate, char- dis, partibus novellis ferrugineis mox glabris. . taceous, glabrous above except for the midrib; Folia utrinque glabra, anguste obovata, apice lateral nerves from 14 in the smaller leaves to rorundata, basi cuneata in petiolum validum 24 in the larger ones on each side of the midrib, angusrata, chartacea, nervis lateralibus primariis united to form a strong intramarginal vein 4- 5 utrinsecus 18-20, utrinque prominenribus, in mm. from the edge with a finer less distinct one venam intramarginalem 4- 5 mm. a margine very close to the margin, slightly raised, connect­ arcuatirn confluentibus, venulis in sicco laxe ing veins and veinlets clearly discernible in the reticularis supra parum subtus distinctius ele­ dried specimens, densely rufous- or ferruginous­ vatis; lamina 14-22 cm. longa, 3.5- 5 cm. lata; pubescent beneath, lateral nerves and connecting petiolus 1-1.5 cm. longus. Racemi densiflori, and reticulate veinlets raised and prominent; axillares, saepe ex axillis foliorum delapsorum blade 13-28 cm. long, 6-9 em. wide, petiole orti, breviter pedunculati, cum pedunculo 13-18 densely tomentose, 1.5-3 ern. long. Racemes ern. longi, cumfloribus pilis ferrugineis den­ mostly on the older wood below the leaves, very sissime obsiti; pedicelli graciles, ca. 1 cm. longi; densely flowered, 24-30 cm. long including the torus obliquus, glandula hypogyna integra hip­ short peduncle; rachis, pedicels, and flowers pocrepiforrni; perala (perianthii segmenta) 7- 8 densely rufous- or ferrugin ous-tomenrose; pedi­ mm. longa; pistillum 1.2 cm. longum, ovario eels in pairs, slender, 4-5 mm.long. Petals (peri­ unilaterali fusco-piloso stipitato, stipite cum anth segments) 7-8 mm. long, glabrous on the stylo glabrescenti. Fructus indehiscens, globosus, inner face, ovary densely 'clothed with rather ca. 5 cm. diam., fere vel omnino sessilis, peri­ long reddish hairs, stipitate; sripes glabrous, carpio renui, endocarpio osseo 7-8 mm. crasso, style glabrous, grooved, gradually thickened to­ sutura visibili sed indistincta. wards the top; pyramidal; hypogynous Northeast New G uinea: Kuminkira, Aiyura, gland very prominent, entire, horseshoe-shaped alt. about 5,000 ft., 1. S. Smith N. G.F. 1093 or almost annular. (Type: flowers) October, 1944 (tree 100 ft., Southeast N ew Guinea: Koitaki, alt. ca. 1,500 with adventitious roots up to 4.5 feet above the ft. in rain forest, C. E. Carr No. 12058 ( f1s.) , ground; bark brownish, slightly dotted with April, 1935 (tree 12 m.; f1 s. golden-yellow, pustular lenricels, very finely longitudinally tipp ed brownish-orange, style bright yellow­ cracked with a few small corky scaled patches; green, stigma deep green) . flowers rusty brown, style green with green Though fruits are unknown, I have trans­ stigma) . Bracken Ridge, Aiyura, alt. about ferred this to Finschia \'{Tarb. owing to its close 6,000 ft., 1. S. Smith N.G.F. 1060 (fruits ) Oc­ relationship to F. rufa W arb., from which it tober, 1944 (tree 100 ft., trunk raised on adven­ differs chiefly in being smaller in all its parts. titi ous roots up to 3 feet above the ground; bark The description has been drawn mainly from brownish with small pustular lenticels some­ isotype material but a few notes from Sleumer's times arranged in short longitudinal rows; fruits original description have been incorporated globular, brownish; seeds cooked and eaten by mainly to give variation in size of and a the natives) . few other characters. The species is known only 4. Finschia chloroxantha Diels (1916: 204) from the type gathering. Figs. 2, 3 3. Finschia ferruginiflora sp. nov. Grevillea densiflora C. T. White (1922: 25 ); Fig. 1 H. Sleumer (1939: 129). Arbor 30 m. alt., trun co per radices adventitios Greoillea elae9carpifolia Guillaum. . ( 1932: ad 1.5 m. altos supra terram elevato, cortice 87). Genus Finschia-WHITE 191 ' "

FIG. 2. Finschia chloroxantha Diels. Bougainv ille : S. F. Kaiewski 2033. 192 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. III, July, 1949

Helicia micronesica Kanehira (19 33a: 95, fig. canic soil, K. Mair, N .G.F. 1878 (flowers) May, 23 [f01. frucr.]; 1933b: 669; 1935:' 311) . 1945 (tree 60 fr., stilt-rooted to 2 ft. 6 in.; Finschia micronesica (Kanehira) Kanehira bark light brown with pustules in longitudinal (1938: 241, fig. 72 [fl.]). lines; flowers yellow-green). Solomon Islands: Finschia Waterhouseana B. 1. Burtt ( 1936 : New Georgia Group, Kolombangara Island, in 465) . lowland rain forest, F. S. Walker & C. T . White Grevillea micronesi(a)ca (Kanehira ) Sleumer B.S.I.P. 183 (leaves and seeds from under the ( 1939: 129). tree ) October, 1945 (tree 70 fr., buttresses sup­ Finschia densiilor« (c. T. White) C. T. porting the trunk off the ground on stilt roots W hite (ex W alker, 1948: 155 ). 6 ft. high; bark grey-brown, roughened with

Tree up to 25 m. high, trunk buttressed, often 0 numerous fine pustular lenticels; seeds with an raised on stilt roots; bark grey to light brown, edible, .pleasantly flavoured kernel ).

usually marked with pustules in longitudinal 0 It is with some hesitation that I have united lines; young parts densely clothed with a tawny all the species quoted above with F. cbloro­

or ferruginous 0 pubescence. Leaves lanceolate, xantha Diels, especially as Sleumer (loc. cit.), elliptic or narrowly obovate ("oblanceolate"), who had the opportunity of seeing the type of apex acute or blunt, base cuneate, in the dried this species, kept it distinct from the others.

o state dull or nitid above; main lateral nerves Knowing, however, the extreme variability of from about 12 on each side of the midrib in the­ many of the Proteaceae, especially when they smaller leaves to about 30 in the larger ones, are brought into cultivation, I have after con­ arching to form an intramarginal vein, some­ siderable thought decided to regard F. cbloro­ times very distinct, at others not very clearly de­ xantha Diels asa "formenkteis" species with fined; blade variable in size, 9-40 em. long, several geographical races. It seems to differ 3.5-13 cm. wide; petiole 1-2.5 cm. long. Ra­ from subsequently named species only in the cemes many flowered, axillary or more fre­ larger leaves and longer . . quently on the older wood below the leaves, Sleumer (loc. cit.) suggested that Grevillea rachis pubescent, to 30 em. long, including the elaeocarpifolia Guillaum. was identical with comparatively short peduncle. .Flowers yellow­ Grevillea densiflora C. T. White but did not green to orange-yellow, pedicels and petals actually synonymise the two species. Kajewski (perianth segments) thinl y clothed with a few when in Bougainville, according to his fieid scattered brown hairs; pedicels 0.3-1 em. long; labels, recognized the tree there as practically petals 0.4-0.8 em. long. Ovary glabrous, stipi­ identical with the one in the New Hebrides. In tate, stipes to 0.5 em. long; style narrowly cla- this latter area he menti ons that the trees are . Ovate, to 1.5 em. long; torus very oblique, hy­ frequently seen about villages and appear to be pogynous gland prominent, entire, horseshoe­ planted as the seed is quite an important food shaped or nearly annular. Fruit yellow, com­ nut. The New Hebrides tree which was aptly pressed, oblique, 3-4 em. long, 2.5-3 em. wide, named by ' Guillaumin ( 1932) as Grevillea and 2.5 cm. deep; endocarp bony, roughened; elaeocarpifolia, judging from Kajewski's ma­ seed edible. terial (two numbers) , seems to have consistently A very widely spread species from the Caro­ line Islands in the north through New Guinea smaller leaves, but this is an extraordinarily vari­ and the Solomon Islands to the New Hebrides in able feature in the New Guine a tree of which I the south. To the specimens cited by the authors have seen a good range of specimens. to quoted above the following can 0 be added: Finschia micronesica Kanehira, according N ortheast N ew Guin ea: Heath Island, Open the author's description and illustrations, seems Bay (nr. New Britain ) , in rain forest on vol- to differ in the inflorescence being much shorter Genus FinJchia-WHITE 193

FIG . 3. Finscbia chloroxantha Die1s ( Grevillea elaeocarpijolia Guillaum in ) . New Heb rides: S. F. Kajeu» rki 350. 194 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. III, July, 1949 with fewer, less crowded flowersand in the fruits KANEHIRA, Rvozo, 1933a. Flora Micronesica being slightly larger than in the New Guinea, [Japanese}. viii+505 pp., 211 figs., 21 pis. Solomon Islands, and New Hebrides trees, but South Seas Bureau, Japanese Mandated Terri­ tory. it is doubtful if these are points of specific ---1933b. New or noteworthy trees .from value, Micronesia 4. Bot. Mag. {Tokyo} 47 : 669­ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 680. I am indebted to the authorities of the Arnold --- 1935. An enumeration of Micronesian . Kyushu Imp. Univ., Dept. Agr., Jour. Arboretum (Harvard University) for photostat 4: 237-464. copies of Kanehira's papers, which were un­ --- 1938. New trees from Micronesia XX. available to me in Brisbane, and to Mr. E. H. Bot. Mag. {Tokyo} 52: 235-241, fig. 72. Flint of the University for a trans­ LAUTERBACH, C. 1913. Beitrage zur Flora von lation of Kanehira's original description (in Papuasien III. Engl.,Bot. [abrb, 50: 288-383, 10 figs., 1 map. Japanese) in Flora Micronesica, SLEUMER, H. 1939. Lauterbach and Diels' REFERENCES Beirrage zur Flora von Papuasien 24. Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 70: 95-148. BURTT, B..1. 1936. Melanesian plants 2. Kew WALKER, F. S. 1948. The forests of the British Roy , Bot. Gard. Bul. Misc. Inform. (art. 43) : Solomon Islands Protectorate. 186 pp., 21 459-466. maps. Hodgson & Son, Lrd., London. DIELS,1. 1916. Lauterbach's Beirrage zur Flora WARBURG, 0 .. 1891. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der von Papuasien 5. Engl. Bot. [abrb, 54: 69­ papuanischen Flora. Engl. Bot. [abrb, 13: 261, 29 figs. 230-455. GUILLAUMIN, A. 1932. Contributions to the WHITE, C. T. 1922. A contribution to our flora of the New Hebrides-Plants collected knowledge of the flora of Papua (British New by S. F. Kajewski 1928 and 1929. Arnold Guinea). Roy. Soc. Queensland, Proc. 34: Arboretum, Jour. 13: 81-126, pl. 43, 2 figs. 5-65 .