ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3239
Session = 8.8.5


BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE PALMS OF THE MELANESIAN ARCHIPELAGOS


J.-C. Pintaud, IRD, Ap. 17.12.857, Quito, Ecuador and BP A5, Nouméa, New Caledonia, and M. F. Doyle, Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley.


The palm flora of the Melanesian islands from the Bismarck archipelago to Samoa and New Zealand comprises 48 genera (27 endemic) and 143 species (131 endemic). A major disjunction exists between the palm floras of the mostly continental islands of the Inner Melanesian Arc (IMA) and the oceanic islands of the Outer Melanesian Arc (OMA). The flora of the OMA is essentially of Papuan origin, with also an insular Pacific element, while that of the IMA is Australasian. The Melanesian palm flora is composed primarily of four subtribes of Arecoid palms which indicate an East-Gondwanan origin : Iguanurinae (both OMA and IMA), Ptychospermatinae and Arecinae (OMA only), and Archontophoenicinae (IMA only). Important radiations occured within these lineages in New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon islands.


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