RHODODENDRON LORANTHIFLORUM (ERICACEAE) FROM MAINLANDNEW GUINEA. A DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORD AND NEW SUBSPECIES

Abstract

Rhododendron loranthiflorum was previously regarded as an archipelagic endemic, with known stations in the Solomon Islands and New Britain. An exploratory survey of the Lakekamu Basin has now established the plant's presence on the southern side of the New Guinea mainland. The Lakekamu provenance represents a geographical disjunction distinguishable as a separate subspecies, and is formally described as subsp. lakekamuensis.