''Leichhardtia mackeeorum'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Marsdenia mackeeorum'', is a species of

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

Description

''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 long. They are linear to elliptic and long by wide, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip, and have revolute margins. 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.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 2017 as ''Marsdenia mackeeorum''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, ''mackeeorum'' (), honours

Hugh Shaw MacKee Hugh Shaw MacKee previously known as Hugh Shaw McKee (1912 – 1995) was a botanist who was born in Northern Ireland, but who collected in Australia and Oceania, and finally in New Caledonia, where together with his wife and other collaborators, ...

and his wife, Margaret. Hugh MacKee collected the type specimen in

Grande-Terre Grande-Terre Island (french: île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwantè) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe ...

, South Province, Yaté, Gouemba,

at an altitude of , on March 22, 1981
holotype P00607333
isotype P00607334). In 2020, the same authors transferred the species to the genus '' Leichhardtia''.

Conservation status

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 Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

(EOO) of , and an

area of occupancy Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...

(AOO) of , it satisfies the criteria for it to be declared vulnerable under the IUCN criteria of 2012.

References

External links

''Marsdenia mackeeorum'' Meve, Gâteblé & Liede, endemia.nc Flore et Faune de Nouvelle-Calédonie.''Marsdenia mackeeorum'' GBIF Images of specimens, map
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q123426486, from2=Q61742052 Asclepiadoideae Endemic flora of New Caledonia Plants described in 2017 Taxa named by Gildas Gâteblé Taxa named by Ulrich Meve Taxa named by Sigrid Liede-Schumann