A new species of Melastome from the central Dominican Republic.

Melastomes (Melastomataceae) are broad-leaved flowering plants found across the tropics, and occasionally elsewhere. They are related to Pomegranates, Myrtles and Evening Primroses. Melastomes can be herbs, shrubs or small trees. Some members of the group have become notorious invasive species, notably Koster's Curse (Clidemia hirta) a shrub native to Central America and the Caribbean that has become a pest species in Hawaii, Australia, Sri Lanka and parts of Africa, and the Bush Currant (Miconia calvescens) a small tree from Central and South America, which is regarded as one of the world's most invasive species, forming monospecific stands that have replaced 25% of the surviving rainforest on Tahiti.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 13 September 2013, Lukas Majure and Walter Judd, both of the Department of Biology and the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, describe a new species of Melastome from the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic.

The new species is placed in the genus Miconia, and given the specific name paralimoides, meaning 'beside limoides'; the species closely resembles Miconia limoides, a species from southern Hispaniola, and is thought to be closely related to it. Miconia paralimoides is an evergreen shrub, 1-3 m in height, with hairy, oval leaves. It produces red flowers and purple berries.

Miconia paralimoides, illustation. Majure & Judd (2013).

Detail of the flower of Miconia paralimoides. Majure & Judd (2013).

Distribution of Miconia paralimoides (black circles) and Miconia limoides (open circles). Majure & Judd (2013).

See also A new species of Cherry from central Zhejiang Province, China, New species of Vochysia from Brazil and A new species of Custard Apple from the Western Ghats Mountains of India.

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New species of Vochysia from Brazil.

Vochysias are waxy, evergreen shrubs in the Myrtle (Myrtales) Order, which in turn are members of the Subclass Rosidae (Roses) within the Magnoliopsida (Magnolias). They are restricted to tropical regions of the Americas.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 28 May 2012, Gustavo Shimizu of the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal at the Departamento de Biologia Vegetal at the Instituto de Biologia at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Licléia da Cruz Rodrigues of the Laboratório de Ornitologia at the Departamento de Zoologia at the Instituto de Ciências Biológicas at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and Kikyo Yamamoto of the Departamento de Biologia Vegetal at the Instituto de Biologia at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, describe a new species of Vochysia from the Serra do Cipó National Park in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

The new species is named as Vochysia microphylla, the small-leaved Vochysia, as it has the smallest leaves of any known member of the genus, at most 2 cm in length.

Vochysia microphylla. (A) Flowering branch. (B) Lateral petals. (C) Central petal. (D) Calyx, with spurred sepal apart. (E) Anther. (F) Gynoecium. (G) Fruit. (H) Seed. Shimizu et al. (2012).

Vochysia microphylla is a 1.5 m evergreen shrub, growing in dense clusters in the Campos Rupestres montane savanna of eastern Brazil. It produces numerous slender branches with densely packed leaves and terminal inflorescences.

Vochysia microphylla. (A) Population showing the cespitose growth habit. (B) Well-branched individual. (C) Flowering branch with flower buds. (D) Flowering branch with open flowers. Shimizu et al. (2012).

Due to the very small number of plants discovered Shimizu et al. suggest that it might be appropriate to place Vochysia microphylla on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered.

See also New species of parasitic Broomrape from South Korea, A new species of Custard Apple from the Western Ghats Mountains of India, New species of Bromiliad from Brazil, A Permian forest preserved in volcanic ash and Insect borings in Triasic wood.

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