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Leichhardtia mackeeorum

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Leichhardtia mackeeorum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Genus: Leichhardtia
Species:
L. mackeeorum
Binomial name
Leichhardtia mackeeorum
(Meve, Gâteblé & Liede) Liede, Gâteblé & Meve[3]
Synonyms[3]
  • Marsdenia mackeeorum Meve, Gâteblé & Liede

Leichhardtia mackeeorum, synonym Marsdenia mackeeorum, is a species of vine in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to New Caledonia.[3]

Description

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Leichhardtia mackeeorum is a slender twining vine growing to 3 m. It has white latex. The smooth leaves are differently coloured on their upper and lower surfaces (discolorous), on petioles (stems) which are 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long. They are linear to elliptic and 5–13 cm (2.0–5.1 in) long by 0.7–0.9 cm (0.28–0.35 in) wide, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip, and have revolute margins.[2]

Vegetatively, this species differs little from Marsdenia microstoma, but is distinguished from it by its bostrychoid inflorescence on a rachis which continues to grow and flower, whereas M. microstoma has a different inflorescence type and all the flowers on it open at the same time.[2]

Taxonomy

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The species was first described in 2017 as Marsdenia mackeeorum.[4] The specific epithet, mackeeorum (from Latin 'of the MacKees'), honours Hugh Shaw MacKee and his wife, Margaret.[5][6] Hugh MacKee collected the type specimen in Grande-Terre, South Province, Yaté, Gouemba, New Caledonia at an altitude of 500 m (1,600 ft), on March 22, 1981 (holotype P00607333, isotype P00607334).[6] In 2020, the same authors transferred the species to the genus Leichhardtia.[4]

Conservation status

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Some of the localities in which it is found are under threat of mining, and bushfires are a threat to the populations in the maquis vegetation, With an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 1,950 km2 (750 sq mi), and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 32 km2 (12 sq mi), it satisfies the criteria for it to be declared vulnerable under the IUCN criteria of 2012.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b IUCN 2012. — IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1 Second edition. IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge.
  2. ^ a b c d Meve, Ulrich; Gâteblé, Gildas; Liede-Schumann, Sigrid (2017). "Taxonomic novelties in Apocynaceae subfam. Asclepiadoideae from New Caledonia". Adansonia. 39 (1): 55–70. doi:10.5252/a2017n1a5. ISSN 1280-8571.
  3. ^ a b c "Leichhardtia mackeeorum (Meve, Gâteblé & Liede) Liede, Gâteblé & Meve", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2023-11-14
  4. ^ a b "Leichhardtia mackeeorum (Meve, Gâteblé & Liede) Liede, Gâteblé & Meve", The International Plant Names Index, retrieved 2023-11-14
  5. ^ MacKee, l’homme aux 46 000 récoltes Les herbonautes. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Marsdenia mackeeorum". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens.
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