Staufferia and Pilgerina: Two new endemic monotypic arborescent genera of Santalaceae from Madagascar

Abstract : Two new arborescent species of Santalaceae, both endemic to Madagascar, are described in the new monotypic genera, Staufferia Z. S. Rogers, Nickrent & Male'cot and Pilgerina Z. S. Rogers, Nickrent & Male'cot. 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 (1.8-231.1-1.6 cm vs. ca. 9 3 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 3 1.7-2.7 cm vs. ca. 3 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).