Labramia Ambondrombeensis (sapotaceae), a Critically Endangered New Species from Madagascar.

Timber of the family Sapotaceae are appreciated for their physical properties internationally as well as locally, which often put a serious pressure on species survival. Taxonomic efforts are badly needed before producing reliable conservation assessments for the Malagasy species. In the framework of the revision of three related Sapotaceae genera, all endemic from Madagascar and surrounding islands of the Western Indian Ocean, a new species of Labramia A. DC. has been identified. It is described and illustrated here. Labramia ambondrombeensis L. Gaut. & Randriarisoa is one of the two Labramia species that have relatively small leaves. It is compared to Labramia platanoides Capuron ex Aubrey., the other small-leaved species from which it differs in leaf shape, pedicel size and ovary cell number. Labramia ambondrombeensis is known from a single collection that comes from a littoral forest in the Northeastern coast of the island, lacking any legal protection and is preliminary assessed as "Critically Endangered" using the IUCN Red List Criteria.