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Amyris pacis, a new species from the Magdalena River Valley in Colombia, is described and illustrated, including comments about its geographical distribution, habitat, phenology, conservation status and taxonomic affinities. The new species appears to be closely related to A. trimeradue to its unifoliolate leaves and trimerous flowers, but differs from it by its longer leaflet blades with the base rounded to subtruncate, or occasionally subcordate (vs. cuneate), and secondary veins slightly ascending (vs. more strongly ascending). Being a threatened and endemic species, and one of the few species with trimerous flowers, it should be included in further studies to determine appropriate conservation plans and to improve knowledge about the morphology of species with trimerous flowers in Neotropical Rutaceae.

Phylogenetic studies have shown that Schefflera, the largest genus of Araliaceae, is highly polyphyletic, comprising five non-sister clades within the family, and that the generic name must be restricted to a small group of Pacific Island species. In an effort to establish monophyletic genera for the other elements still remaining in Schefflera, phylogenetic analyses of the large Neotropical clade have revealed five morphologically and geographically coherent groups. Here, we reinstate the genus Sciodaphyllum, which corresponds to the largest of these five groups, presenting a synopsis of the 131 currently recognized species, including 109 new combinations, one replacement name (nomen novum), and three new heterotypic synonyms. The re-establishment of Sciodaphyllumopens the way for describing an estimated 200+ new species in the genus, nearly all of which are from the Northern and Central Andes.