Revision of Genus Alstonia— MONACHINO 
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obviously different from those illustrated for 
A, plumosa. ) However, up to the present time, 
I have found all the New Caledonian species of 
Alstonia to be endemic, and there is no evidence 
that La Billardiere’s itinerary (Voyage a la 
Recherche de la Perouse) included the Fijian 
islands. It stands to reason that the possibility 
is not precluded that A. vitiensis or A. Reinec- 
keana may be found in New Caledonia, although 
there is no such evidence now at hand. Not 
counting A. plumosa, nine species are definitely 
known from New Caledonia; five of these are 
represented by only one or two collections. It 
is quite possible that A. plumosa is a rare species 
which has not yet been rediscovered. It is also 
barely possible that A. plumosa is a very unusual 
form of A. Roeperi — a form with small blunt 
glabrous leaves — for leaf character is hardly re- 
liable in this group. Completely glabrous, blunt- 
leaved forms do occur in A . Roeperi, for ex- 
ample, in Compton 1518 cited above. In a 
closely knit group such as plumosa-costata in 
which floral characters are almost identical and 
diagnostic differences of any kind are very 
difficult to discern even with aid of botanical 
specimens, it is hopeless to attempt to form a 
clear idea of A. plumosa without at least an 
examination of the type. 
30. Alstonia vitiensis Seem., FI. Vit. 430. 
1873. 
A. villosa Seem., FI. Vit. 161. 1866 (ho- 
monym); non Blume, Bkjdr. 16: 1038. 
1826. 
Typical branchlets very stout, up to 1.5 cm. 
in diameter, fistulose, leaf scars large; petioles 
2.5- 9 cm. long, conspicuously fossate at axil; 
leaf blades often immense, 8-45 cm. long, 4—27 
cm. broad, rounded, or shortly blunt-acuminate 
at apex, mostly obtuse at base, softly villose 
(pubescent series) to glabrous beneath (gla- 
brous series), generally less shining above than 
in A. Roeperi, the lateral nerves 12-16 pairs, 
1.5- 3 cm. apart. Inflorescence many-flowered, 
ample, and rather spreading; calyx 1-2 mm. in 
diameter; corolla tube (2.2-) 3.9-4.4 mm. 
long; corolla lobes linear-lanceolate, longer than 
corolla tube, 4-8 mm. long, pilose within only 
at base to entire face. Seeds 13-18 mm. long, 
the tails long and slender, up to 7 mm. long. 
Type. — "Viti Levu (Seemann 318) . Possibly 
Deplanche’s n. 66, from New Caledonia, may 
be identical with this species, which I collected 
in fruit only, and distributed under the 
erroneous name of A. plumosa, Labill.” De- 
planche 66 is A. Roeperi. 
Illustrations. — B ui. Bernice P. Bishop 
Mus., Honolulu, 74:65. 1935. (leafy br., fr., 
seed); Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gd. (1945) 46: 112 
(glabrous-leaved series; leafy br. and infl., fl., 
fr.). 
Distribution.— Common in Fiji; a dubious 
form in the Solomon Islands. Reported from 
rain and open forests, and from coastal thickets; 
altitude 30-600 m. 
Pubescent-leaved series. — Fiji: Horne 515 
(GH); Storck. Taviuni: Gillespie 4790 (GH, 
UC). Viti Levu: Degener 15266 ; Gillespie 
2467, 3040 (UC), 3623, 3653, 4228 (UC), 
4273 (Bish); Greenwood 361 A; Meebold 
16787 (Bish); Parks 20900 (UC); Petersen 
3; Seemann 318 (type coll.; fl., fr.; GH, K); 
Setchell and Parks 15052 (UC). 
Glabrous-leaved series. — Fiji: Viti Levu: 
Degener 15040, 15062, 15124, 15153 ; Gillespie 
2912 (det.P US); Meebold 16716 (det.P Bish); 
St. John 18301 (Bish). Vanua Levu: Degener 
and Ordonez 14022; A. C. Smith 1701. Kan- 
davu: A. C. Smith 251. Solomon Islands: Ysa- 
bel Island: Tiratona: L. J. Brass 3404 (rain 
forest, alt. 600 m; fl.; L). 
Vernacular names. — Mbule, Ndranga, 
Soroua. 
The glabrous-leaved series of specimens has 
a hardly appreciable tendency toward a broader 
calyx and a shorter ( 2.2— 3.8 mm. long) corolla 
tube. The leaves are frequently smaller and 
easily confused with those of A. Reineckeana 
and A. montana. 
30a. Alstonia vitiensis var. novo-ebudica 
Monachino, var. nov. 
A forma typica speciei foliis lanceolatis ad 
basin apicemque plusculum acuminatis, tubo 
