Anakasia, a new genus of Araliaceae from west New Guinea

Four specimens of an Araliaceous species collected in the Vogelkop Peninsula and a neighbouring area of SW. New Guinea are so distinctive as to require a new genus. The large, simple, oblanceolate leaves clustered at the ends of the branches recall the habit of Meryta, but the flowers do not share the highly distinctive features of that genus: in particular, they are hermaphrodite, the calyx is well-defined, and a distinct articulation occurs below the ovary. The technical floral and fruit characters are not unlike those of Polyscias (e.g. there is an articulation below the flower, the style arms are free, and the endosperm is smooth), but their general facies is unlike that genus, and this, together with the distinctive inflorescence and leaf, makes the plant quite different from any species of Polyscias.