Lepiderema is a genus of eight species of trees in the lychee family Sapindaceae native to New Guinea (2 species) and eastern Australia (6 species), plus one more from Queensland that is yet to be formally described. The type species is Lepiderema papuana.

Description

Plants in this genus are shrubs or small trees that are usually monoecious, i.e. flowers are either male or female, but both will be produced by an individual plant. The leaves are alternate and compound, with an even number of opposite or sub-opposite leaflets that may have smooth or toothed edges. The petiolules (the stalks of the leaflets) are usually short and pulvinate. Inflorescences may be racemes or panicles, produced in the leaf axils or from the branches on old wood. Flowers are regular and 5-merous with 6–8 stamens, ovaries are 3-locular with one ovule per locule. The fruit are 3-locular capsules, glabrous, dehiscent, becoming woody. Seeds ellipsoid, one per locule, either fully or partly enclosed in an aril.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected in 1879 by the Bavarian botanist Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer to accommodate the newly described plant Lepiderema papuana. The genus name Lepidorema is from the Ancient Greek words lepís meaning a scale or flake, and erêmos meaning "bereft of" or without. It refers to the scale-less petals.

Distribution and habitat

Plants in this genus inhabit rainforest of New Guinea and eastern Australia. The type species Lepiderema papuana is known from a single collection in Western New Guinea, likewise Lepiderema melanorrhachis is known from only one collection in Papua New Guinea. All other species are found in Queensland, with one – Lepiderema pulchella – extending into the northeastern part of New South Wales.

Species

As of 24 April 2024[update], there are 8 species formally recognised, as follows:

In addition to the above, the following name is awaiting formal publication:

  • Lepiderema sp. Impulse Creek (A.B.Pollock 73) Qld Herbarium – central Queensland

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