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Published in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 95: 391-404.

Abstract

Two new arborescent species of Santalaceae, both endemic to Madagascar, are described in the new monotypic genera, Staufferia Z. S. Rogers, Nickrent & Malécot and Pilgerina Z. S. Rogers, Nickrent & Malécot. Based on available molecular and morphological data, the new species are part of a clade formed with Pyrularia Michx. of Asia and North America, the Indo-Malesian genus Scleropyrum Arn., and the central and western African Okoubaka Pellegr. & Normand. Staufferia is distinguished morphologically from Okoubaka by the smaller inflorescences (4 to 10 vs. 50 to 100 flowers); smaller (1.8–2 × 1.1–1.6 cm vs. ca. 9 × 5 cm), obovoidal (vs. ellipsoidal) fruits; smaller (ca. 1.5 mm vs. 7–8 mm diam.), persistent perianth; thinner (0.5–1 mm vs. 15–20 mm thick), 5-sulcate (vs. smooth) exocarp; and thinner (ca. 0.5 mm vs. 3–4 mm thick), smooth (vs. deeply striate or alveolate) mesocarp. Pilgerina differs from Scleropyrum by the smaller inflorescences (8 to 23 vs. 60 to 100 flowers); pedicellate (vs. sessile) flowers; smaller (1.2–1.9 × 1.7–2.7 cm vs. ca. 3 × 2 cm), broadly transversely ellipsoidal to subspheroidal (vs. obovoidal to pyriform) fruits; and thinner (ca. 0.5 mm vs. 1.5–3 mm thick), smooth or finely striate (vs. deeply striate or alveolate) mesocarp. Both species are illustrated and assigned an IUCN preliminary conservation status of Least Concern (LC).

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