| A recent survey of mangroves in New Caledonia located 7 taxa of the genus Rhizophora – with 6 coexisting in one estuary. This is arguably the greatest concentration of co-occurring Rhizophora taxa anywhere. Two are well-known mangrove species of the Indo West Pacific, R. stylosa and R. apiculata, and another, R. samoensis resembles the widespread Atlantic East Pacific species, R. mangle. The other four are hybrid intermediates, R. × lamarckii (= R. stylosa × R. apiculata), R. × selala (= R. stylosa × R. samoensis), and two previously undescribed combinations, R. × tomlinsonii (R. apiculata × R. samoensis) and R. samoensis var. neocaledonica (= R. samoensis × R. × selala). The new entities are unknown elsewhere. While R. × tomlinsonii is considered endemic... |
