Introduction
The pantropical genus Ixora Linnaeus is the third largest genus in the family Rubiaceae with more than 530 species worldwide (Davis et al. 2009, Banag et al. 2017), growing mostly in humid forests. It is a genus of shrubs and small trees easily recognizable because of its articulate petioles, hermaphroditic flowers, hypocrateriform corollas, two-locular ovaries with a solitary ovule per locule, bilobed stigma, and drupaceous fruits (De Block 1998, Mouly et al. 2009).
In the Philippines, 34 species of Ixora are currently recognized (Pelser et al. 2011) and four of these 34 species can be found in Dinagat Islands namely, I. angustilimba Merrill, I. confertiflora Merrill, I. gigantifolia Elmer, andI. philippinensis Merrill (Banag et al. 2015). The Dinagat Islands are composed of an aggregate of various land formations on the northeastern edge of Mindanao Island in the Philippines (Tamayo et al. 2021) and are home to an array of microendemic species of animals and plants (e.g. Musser et al. , 1985; Mohagan et al., 2013; Brown et al., 2014; Sanguila et al., 2016; Fernando et al., 2018; Robinson et al., 2019; Fernando and Wilson, 2021).
A recent botanical expedition in Mt. Redondo in Dinagat Island has led to the collection of an undescribed Ixora species and does not match with any of the known Philippine and other Asian Ixoraspecies. Hence, a detailed description, illustration, live photographs, and notes on this new species are here provided.
Ixora fernandoi C.B. Moran, sp. nov. (Fig. 12)
Type: Philippines. Mindanao: Dinagat Province, Mt. Redondo, 01 September 2016, 875 m. a.s.l., E.S. Fernando, 4201 (holotype: PNH; isotypes PUH, USTH).
This species is easily recognized from other known Ixora species by its erect to drooping, articulate throughout, flower bud with rounded apex, calyx tube not more than 2 mm long; corolla tube 6–8 mm long; corolla lobes elliptic oblong.