Fig. 3. Eugenia venteri. A numerous aerial roots-like flagella extending down from the main tree trunk; B distal portions of the long creeping flagella on the forest floor bearing inflorescences with flower buds and open flowers; C close-up of a section of the terrestrial flagellum bearing flower buds and open flowers with stiff, somewhat spiny roots visible; D a cluster of four ripe fruits placed in a group around a green immature fruit attached to a flagellum on the ground. Photo: Fanie Venter/ KEW BULLETIN
A plant found in the jungles of Manus Province has quietly joined the scientific record in 2025, following its formal description by botanists working with one of the world's leading plant institutions, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Fig. 3. Eugenia venteri. A numerous aerial roots-like flagella extending down from the main tree trunk; B distal portions of the long creeping flagella on the forest floor bearing inflorescences with flower buds and open flowers; C close-up of a section of the terrestrial flagellum bearing flower buds and open flowers with stiff, somewhat spiny roots visible; D a cluster of four ripe fruits placed in a group around a green immature fruit attached to a flagellum on the ground. Photo: Fanie Venter/ KEW BULLETIN
The plant, now known as Eugenia venteri, was identified from specimens collected in the lowland forests of Manus, an island province better known for its reefs and wartime history than for botanical discoveries. Yet Manus sits within one of the most biologically complex regions on earth, where isolation, high rainfall, and geology have combined to produce plant life found nowhere else.
The formal scientific description was published in Kew Bulletin, with the study led by Dr Yee Wen Low and Kew's Dr Eve Lucas in collaboration with Arison Arihafa an independent botanist based in Papua New Guinea.
The DNA extraction and sequencing was carried out by László Csiba of Analytical Methods team at Kew's Jodrell laboratory.
The species name venteri honours Dr. Venteri, acknowledging his role in research on this particular plant and his long-standing contribution to documenting Papua New Guinea's rich and often overlooked plant diversity.
For Papua New Guinea, the discovery carries implications beyond taxonomy. Penniel Lamei, a senior botanist who manages PNG's primary herbarium in Lae City, said the fact that Eugenia venteri is new to science and locally endemic to Manus places an immediate conservation obligation on the country.
"Because it's a species new to science and in PNG, and the fact that it's locally endemic to Manus, this species requires conservation both in-situ and ex-situ, and is very important," Lamei said.
To the untrained eye, Eugenia venteri might still pass without notice, not because it is a small tree but because forests like those of Manus are dense and crowded with life. The species is in fact a tall forest tree, distinguished by long, vine-like branches that weave through surrounding vegetation. It belongs to the Myrtaceae family - the same botanical family as clove, eucalyptus, and guava - but its growth form sets it apart from many of its relatives.
What makes the species scientifically significant lies in details measured in millimetres: the structure of its leaves, the arrangement of its flowers, and the form of its fruit. These subtle characteristics are the markers taxonomists rely on to distinguish one species from another in tropical forests where visual similarity is common.
Once collected in Manus, the specimens were studied and compared against existing records, including millions of preserved plants held in Kew's global herbarium. This process is slow and exacting. Botanists compare physical traits, consult historical descriptions, and rule out close relatives from across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Only when no match can be found does a plant earn recognition as a species new to science.
Lamei said conservation efforts must go beyond protecting forests where the plant naturally occurs. Living collections, he explained, are essential to ensure the species survives beyond mounting environmental pressures.
"This is to retain living collections in botanical gardens away from environmental threats like logging, mining, and agriculture. Currently, we don't have a living sample in the Lae Botanical Garden. It's important that the PNG government funds these projects so researchers like myself and others can go out and do collections," he said.
Without such investment, newly described species remain vulnerable. Many are formally named only after their habitats have already begun to shrink, leaving little margin for recovery.
There is currently no formally documented medicinal or economic use for Eugenia venteri, and scientists are careful not to speculate. While other Eugenia species elsewhere are used in traditional medicine, each species has a distinct chemical profile. Scientific recognition is not a claim of utility; it is a statement of existence.
However, local communities have many medicinal uses included the treatment of stomach complaints.
