Conspectus of the genus Amyema Tieghem (Loranthaceae)

The Australasian/Malesian genus Amyema is reviewed. Particular attention is given to the species of the Malesian region, as a precursor to a treatment of Loranthaceae for Flora Malesiana. Amyema comprises 92 species, and is distributed from the southeast Asian mainland (Malaya, Thailand) throughout the Malesian region to the southwest Pacific (Samoa) and Australia. Major centres of species richness are in the Philippines, New Guinea, and Australia. The genus is part of a floristic element of Gondwanan derivation, which has diversified in the northern part of the Australian plate, and reached the Malesian region from the east following the establishment of Charles’s Line. A comprehensive approach to species circumscription for the entire genus necessitates numerous nomenclatural changes to earlier regional treatments. Eight species are described as new, viz., A. arthrocaulis, A. eburna, A. enneantha, A. irrubescens, A. pyriformis, A. rhytidoderma, A. scheffleroides, and A. vernicosa. One subspecies, A. miraculosa subsp. latifolia, is described as new.