Contribution à la connaissance des Myrsinaceae de Nouvelle-Calédonie. I. Le genre Maesa Forssk.

The genus Maesa Forssk. is represented within the New Caledonian area (Grande Terre, satellite islands, and the Loyalty Archipelago) by two species, both lianas: M. novo-caledonica Mez, growing on all kinds of substrates (ultramafic, siliceous, and calcareous) and in every part of the Territory, and M. jaffrei M.Schmid, a new species described here, discovered in the Boulinda-Kopéto Massif, in the central part of the Grande Terre. This new species is distinguished from the former by its narrower leaves including a dense frame of secretory ducts, by few branched infructescences shorter than leaves, as well as frequently longer fruit peduncles.