Weda, a new genus with two new species of Euphorbiaceae-Crotonoideae from Halmahera (North Moluccas, Indonesia) and phylogenetic relationships of the Australasian tribe Ricinocarpeae

Two unknown Euphorbiaceae were discovered during the environmental impact study for a proposed nickel mine behind Weda Bay on Halmahera in the North Moluccas (Maluku Utara Province) of Indonesia. Morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses using four markers (plastid trnL-F and rbcL, and nuclear ribosomal ITS and ETS) indicated they should be recognized as constituting a new, distinct genus of two species, which are described and illustrated here as Weda fragarioides and W. lutea. The new taxa are members of the Australasian tribe Ricinocarpeae in subfamily Crotonoideae, and most closely related to Alphandia. In contrast with the otherwise mostly sclerophyllous Ricinocarpeae, Weda possesses stellate to dendritic hairs, large, long-petiolate, glandular leaves, and inflorescences with a pair of large, leafy, subopposite bracts. The two narrowly distributed species are distinguished from each other by vegetative and floral features, molecular data, and elevational prefere...