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...在印度尼西亚北马鲁古省（North Moluccas）哈马黑拉岛（Halmahera）韦达湾后方的拟建镍矿环境影响评价研究中，发现了两种未被记载的大戟科（Euphorbiaceae）植物。通过对质体trnL-F、rbcL以及核糖体核ITS、ETS共4种分子标记的形态学比较与分子系统发育分析，结果显示这两种植物应被认定为一个全新的独立属，包含两个物种，本文对其进行了描述并配图发表，分别命名为Weda fragarioides和W. lutea。该新分类群隶属于巴豆亚科（Crotonoideae）澳大拉西亚锡柴族（Ricinocarpeae），与Alphandia属亲缘关系最近。与该族多数类群的硬叶习性不同，Weda属具有星状至树枝状毛被、大型具长叶柄的腺质叶片，以及具一对大型叶状近对生苞片的花序。这两个分布范围狭窄的物种可通过营养体、花部形态、分子数据以及海拔偏好等特征相互区分。