Myrsine hartii (Grant) Fosberg & Sachet

Rapanea hartii Grant

Arbor parva, glabra; folia petiolis 5–8 mm longis, laminis obovatis 18–23 cm longis 6.5–8.7 cm latis basi attenuatis anguste cuneatis apice rotundatis rigiduscule coriaceis haud manifeste punctatis; umbellae 6–7-florae; flores ignoti; pedicelli fructiferi 5 mm longi; calyx tubo 0.5 mm longo, lobis 1 mm longis late deltoideis acutis; drupa subglobosa vel obovata 4–5 mm longa 4 mm lata.

Small tree, glabrous, with leaves scattered along the twigs, not fascicled, petioles 5–8 mm long. Blades obovate, 18–23 × 6.5–8.7 cm, rounded at the tip, attenuate to a narrowly cuneate base; very coriaceous for this genus; prominently reticulateveined, with a well-developed midrib 2.5–3 mm in diameter at the base, and 25–35 lateral veins which are irregularly arranged, usually alternately long and short, the long ones turning upward and fusing toward the margin; punctate with lines and dots, inconspicuously so in direct light (the dots black), and conspicuously pellucid (orange-red) by transmitted light. Umbels occurring principally below the leaves, sessile on minute branches (0.5 mm long) from stems 6–8 mm thick, 6–7 flowered. Flowers unknown. Fruiting pedicels 5 mm long, 0.6 mm thick. Calyx tube 0.5 mm long, lobes 4, broadly deltoid, 1 mm long, acutish, puncticulate, glandular-ciliolate. Drupe subglobose to obovate, 4–5 × 4 mm, greenish, punctate with red and black lines.

The closest relative is R. taitensis, from which it differs in the leaves being obovate, cuneate-attenuate at the base (elliptical and subcordate in R. taitensis), and more prominently puncticulate, the slightly shorter pedicels, shorter calyx lobes, and smaller fruits. The difference in leaf shape is very striking. The plant shows no evident similarity to the thinner-leaved, larger-fruited R. obovata of Raiatea.

ETYMOLOGY.—The species is named after Mr. John W. Hart, of Raiatea, a long-time settler in southern Polynesia, who was leader of the party on the occasion of the discovery of the species.

RANGE.—Society Islands: Tahiti: Grant 4080, Papenoo Valley, Ana Pua, alt. 365 m (1200 ft), in Cerbera-Pandanus forest, 6 September 1930, fruit (BISH, type; MIN).

Myrsine hartii (Grant) Fosberg & Sachet

Rapanea hartii Grant in Grant, Fosberg, and Smith, Smithsonian Contr. Bot., 17:16, 1974.

Described from and endemic to Tahiti.

Myrsine hartii is a species of plant in the family Primulaceae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia.