The identity of Plectomirtha Oliv. with Pennantia J. R. & G. Forster (Icacinaceae)

In 1948, W. B. R. Oliver described the new monotypic genus Plectomirtha, collected by G. T. S. Baylis in 1945 from a single tree on a small rocky islet of the Three King’s Islands off New Zealand. He placed it in the Anacardiaceae, a family hitherto absent from New Zealand. This aroused a certain curiosity both from a taxonomic and plantgeographic point of view, because it would be much intriguing if an endemic genus occurred there. This was the reason why Dr C. G. G. J. van Steenis asked Prof. G. T. S. Baylis from the University of Otago, Dunedin, N.Z., for original material to be able to elucidate this case. A fragment of the holotype, consisting of a few flowers and a leaf, conserved in the Auckland Institute and Museum, became available to our institute in October 1954 by the courtesy of Dr R. Cooper.