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During the preparation of the Vascular Flora of the Marquesas Islands three new species of Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) have come to light and are described herein: C. uapouensis W. L. Wagner & Lorence, C. uahukaensis W. L. Wagner & Lorence, and C. kenwoodii W. L. Wagner & A. J. Wagner. Amended descriptions of the eight previously described Marquesan species are also provided as well as a key to the species. With the description of these the new species Cyrtandra in the Marquesas Islands consists of 11 species, six of which have been included in recent molecular phylogenetic studies of Pacific Cyrtandra, and appear to have arisen from one original introduction. If the other five species are members of this Marquesas clade then Cyrtandra would represent the largest lineage of Marquesas vascular plants. Psychotria is largest genus in the Marquesas Islands with 13 species, but is thought to consist of three separate lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyrtandra comprises at least 600 species distributed throughout Malesia, where it is known for many local endemics and in Polynesia and Micronesia, where it is present on most island groups, and is among the most successfully dispersing genera of the Pacific. To ascertain the origin of the oceanic Pacific island species of Cyrtandra, we sequenced the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA of samples from throughout its geographical range. Because all oceanic Pacific island species form a well-supported clade, these species apparently result from a single initial colonization into the Pacific, possibly by a species from the eastern rim of SE Asia via a NW-to-SE stepping stone migration. Hawaiian species form a monophyletic group, probably as a result of a single colonization. The Pacific island clade of Cyrtandra dispersed across huge distances, in contrast to the apparent localization of the SE Asian clades. Although highly vagile, the Pacific clade is restricted to oceanic islands. Individual species are often endemic to a single island, characteristic of the ‘supertramp’ life form sensu Diamond (1974, Science 184:803–806). The evolution of fleshy fruit within Cyrtandra provided an adaptation for colonization throughout the oceanic Pacific via bird dispersal from a single common ancestor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]