Ecua, a new genus op Apocynaceae from Malesia

Whilst examining the specimens of Apocynaceae in Herbarium Bogoriense I came upon two unknown specimens which appeared to be species of Parsonsia. On further examination they turned out to belong to a new genus related to Parsonsia but differing from it in the stamens which are included within the corolla tube and the shape of the corolla, filaments and anthers. This is the second new genus recently discovered in Malesia, the first being Baharuia D.J. Middleton described from plants collected in Borneo and Sumatra. The name of the genus is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference to the funding for my work on Malesian Apocynaceae, the European Currency Unit or ECU. The genus was launched during the opening of the Van Steenis Building by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on June 11, 1996.