Are long corolla tubes in Pedicularis driven by pollinator selection?

The evolution of long corolla tubes has been hypothesized to be driven by long-tongued pollinators.Corolla tubes in Pedicularis species can be longer than 10 cm which may function as flower stalks to increase visual attractiveness to pollinators because these species provide no nectar and are pollinated by bumblebees. The corolla tube length was manipulated(shorter or longer) in two Pedicularis species in field to examine whether longer tubes are more attractive to pollinators and produce more seeds than short tubes. Our results did not support the pollinator attraction hypothesis, leaving the evolution of long tubes in Pedicularis remains mysterious.     

中国茜草科资料之二

在编研《中国植物志》茜草科的过程中,对龙船花属（Ｉｘｏｒａ）植物作进一步检查和整理,共发现６个新分类群Ｉｘｏｒａｉｎｓｉｇｎｉｓ,Ｉ．ａｍｐｌｅｘｉｃａｕｌｉｓ,Ｉ．ａｕｒｉｃｕｌａｒｉｓ,Ｉ．ｐａｒａｏｐａｒａ,Ｉ．ｆｏｎｃｈｅｗｉ,Ｉ．ｇｒａｃｉｌｉｓ;新种的模式标本保存在中国科学院华南植物研究所标本馆（ＩＢＳＣ）。     

Revision of the genus Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae) in Africa and Madagascar with notes on ecology and phytogeography

The African and Madagascan representatives of the carnivorous genus Genlisea are investigated. All African material belongs to subgenus Genlisea and can be assigned to 10 taxa, which mainly differ in indumentum of calyx, corolla and ovary. The former section Tayloria , restricted to South America, is raised to subgeneric rank. One species, Genlisea margaretae , occurs in South-East Africa and Madagascar as well. All species are restricted to specific oligotrophous habitats like granitic outcrops (inselbergs), ferricretes, white sands and swamps. Genlisea taylori from Angola is described as new. All species are described and illustrated and a key and distribution maps are presented.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lepidagathis danielii</Emphasis> (Acanthaceae), una especie nueva de la Cuenca del Río Balsas en el Estado de Guerrero,México

A new species from the Balsas river basin in Guerrero state, Mexico, is described and illustrated: Lepidagathis danielii (Acanthaceae). This new species is distinguished from all the known species of the genus because it has leaves and bracts with an apical spine, inflorescences with decussate flowers, a calyx with connate lobes of equal length, a red corolla that is 3 cm long and conspicuously bilabiate with a constriction near the base where the stamens are also inserted. In addition, the style is covered with scattered trichomes and the pollen is tricolporate without pseudocolpi.     

唇形科鼠尾草属新植物

描述了四川（唇形科）鼠尾草属植物一新种,即川西鼠尾草。新植物毛被与花冠管内被长柔毛而独特,接近于粘毛鼠尾草(Salvia roborowskii Maxim.),其区别在于多年生草本,根粗壮,直径1～2 cm;花萼较长,长1～1.2 cm;花冠较长,长约2.1 cm,内面离花冠筒基部约2 mm处,向上长约5 mm一段全被长柔毛（非毛环）,花冠筒近中部向上近直弯曲而逐渐扩大,冠檐上下唇具紫红色斑点。     

宁夏枸杞属（茄科）一新种和一新变种

描述了宁夏茄科枸杞属一新种小叶黄果枸杞和一新变种密枝枸杞。小叶黄果枸杞与宁夏枸杞相接近,但前者枝条成"之"字形曲折,叶片较小,条形、条状披针形、条状倒披针形或狭椭圆形,花1～2朵与叶一起簇生于短枝顶端,花萼杯状或筒状,常2浅裂,裂片边缘无毛;花冠筒部与冠檐近等长,雄蕊着生于花冠筒的喉部,花丝连同花冠无毛或在基部仅被稀疏短柔毛,浆果扁球形或椭圆球形,常为淡黄色,近透明,长6～10mm,直径6～8mm,种子5～8枚而与后者明显不同。在外部形态上,小叶黄果枸杞与新疆枸杞和土库曼枸杞也比较接近,但新疆枸杞和土库曼枸杞的枝条不成"之"字形曲折,花常2～3朵或更多与叶一起簇生于短枝顶端,花冠筒部长约为檐部裂片长的2倍,雄蕊着生于花冠筒的近中部,浆果红色。尤其是土库曼枸杞的花萼为宽钟形,常4～5裂,花冠裂片边缘有短而稀疏的缘毛而明显有异于小叶黄果枸杞。宁夏枸杞的变种密枝枸杞与原变种的区别在于前者植株分枝多而密,叶片小,狭长椭圆形、倒披针形或匙形,长1～1.8cm,宽1.5～2.5mm;雄蕊着生于花冠喉部,长短不等,其中两枚较短,其余3枚较长,花丝连同花冠无毛或在基部仅被稀疏短柔毛;浆果卵球形或椭圆形,长5～8mm,直径3～6mm,淡紫色,近透明,多汁,味甜,种子2～4粒。     

Primulina suichuanensis sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from Danxia landform in Jiangxi,China

Primulina suichuanensis X. L. Yu & J. J. Zhou, a new species of Gesneriaceae from Jiangxi, China, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, the new species is most similar to P. roseoalba, but differs by entire leaf blade margin, narrowly ovate bracts, reddish–purple or bluish–purple corolla, 3.0–3.4 cm long corolla tube, white filaments, and 3.6 cm long pistil. It flowers from September to November.     

Pterygiella luzhijiangensis sp. nov. (Orobanchaceae), a new procumbent species from Yunnan,southwest China

Pterygiella luzhijiangensis Huan C. Wang, is described and illustrated as a new species endemic to Yunnan, southwest China. It occurs in thickets of the Luzhijiang hot‐dry valley at elevations of 1000–1300 m a.s.l. This new species is closely related to P. duclouxii Franch., but clearly differs from the latter by its procumbent stems, much branched at the base, 7–20 cm long, the leaves 1.0–2.2 cm long, 0.1–0.2 (0.25) cm wide, the corolla 2.0–2.2 cm long, obviously longer than the calyx, with the lower lip of the corolla much longer than the upper one.     

Pollen morphology in relation to floral types and pollination syndromes in Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae)

Floral diversification in the genus Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae) is remarkable among flowering plants. In this genus, floral morphology and pollinator behavior are closely co-adaptive. In the current paper, pollen grains of 23 representative species of Pedicularis mainly from North America, with two species from Japan and two species from China, whose pollination ecology was previously studied, were examined using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Two pollen aperture types and three kinds of exine ornamentation were recognized among these species. In addition, pollen data from previous and the current studies of Pedicularis were integrated and analyzed, together with some pollination characters. There was a significant association between pollen aperture types and corolla types, as well as between pollination syndromes and corolla types. However, there was no association of exine ornamentations with corolla types. The relationships and evolution of this genus were discussed with regards to pollen morphology, corolla types and pollination syndromes.     

Tremacron hongheense,a New Species of Gesneriaceaefrom Southeastern Yunnan,China

A new species of Gesneriaceae from Honghe County, Southeastern Yunnan, China, Tremacron hongheense WH. Chen & YM. Shui, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to Tremacron forrestii Craib, but differs by its leaf blade adaxially sparsely long setose (vs. densely white appressed pubescent and sparsely rusty brown villous), corolla tube outside short white glandular (vs. nearly glabrous), corolla lobes red and thickening at apex, especially adaxial lip (vs. yellow and not thickening), stamens 16-18cm long (vs. 04-12cm long), staminode 05-14cm long (vs. 02-04cm long).     

The Madagascan genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vaughania</Emphasis> is reduced to synonymy under <Emphasis Type="Italic">Indigofera</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leguminosae-Papilionoideae-Indigofereae</Emphasis>)

Summary  Eleven species comprising the Madagascan genus Vaughania are subsumed within the large pantropical genus Indigofera. Six new combinations are made; the remaining species were originally described in Indigofera.     

Systematic revision of the genus Aglyptodactylus Boulenger, 1919 (Amphibia: Ranidae), and analysis of its phylogenetic relationships to other Madagascan ranid genera (Tomopterna, Boophis, Mantidactylus, and Mantella)

Recent field studies revealed two new species of the genus Aglyptodactylus (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae), which was hitherto considered as monotypic and confined to humid eastern Madagascar. Both new species, Aglyptodactylus laticeps sp. n. and Aglyptodactylus securifer sp. n. , occur syntopically in the deciduous dry forest of Kirindy in western Madagascar. In comparison to Aglyptodactylus madagascariensis from eastern rainforests, the new species A. laticeps shows a remarkable morphological divergence, which may be partly due to adaptations to burrowing habits in dry environments. Despite of the morphological differentiation, advertisement calls and osteology indicate that all three species of Aglyptodactylus are closely related. A phylogenetic analysis of the Madagascan ranid genera Aglyptodactylus, Mantella, Mantidactylus, Boophis , and Tomopterna (the latter including species from Madagascar, Africa, and Asia) strongly supports a sister group relationship of Aglyptodactylus with the ranine genus Tomopterna . We therefore transfer Aglyptodactylus from the Rhacophorinae to the Raninae and discuss implications of this rearrangement for ranoid systematics. The existence of the endemic genus Aglyptodactylus in Madagascar as well as its close phylogenetic relationships to Tomopterna confirm that the Raninae were already present on the Madagascan plate before its separation from Africa. The Madagascan Tomopterna labrosa shows several important differences both to Asian and to African species of the genus, and is therefore transferred from the subgenus Sphaerotheca (now restricted to Asia) to a new subgenus Laliostoma subgen. n .     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chirita luochengensis</Emphasis> (Gesneriaceae), a new species from limestone areas in northern Guangxi,China

Chirita luochengensis, a new species of Gesneriaceae from Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to C. linearifolia in leaf shape, but can be distinguished by the apex of leaf blade obtuse to round, corolla purplish, 3–4.2 cm long, corolla tube 2–2.5 cm long, 10–15 mm diameter at the mouth, staminodes 3, disc ca. 2.5 mm in height, pistil 2.5–3 cm long, stigma obtrapeziform, 4 mm long, and apex shallowly 2-lobed.     

Materia ad Floram Cucurbitacearum Sinensium — Hemsleya Cogn.

the present paper is a meterial of the genus Hemsleya Cogn. for flora of China-Cucurbitaceae. The genus Hemsleya was established by C. A. Cogniaux in 1889. By 1982 about 7 species had been discovered in China, and most of them are mainly distributed in S. W. China, particularly in Yunnan and Sichuan. Their tubers have been used as a folk medicine for a long time. However, we began to search for them, and meanwhile collect and cultivate them, only about ten years ago. After a general survey and taxonomical study, 20 species of Hemsleya are recorded from Yunnan in the paper. Among them 18 species and 3 varieties are new. All the types are kept in Herb. KUN. According to the characters, of corolla and fruit also the seed condition, widely or narrowly winged, proposed are four sections, namely: Sect. I. Craciliflorae; Sect. II. Amabiles; Sect. III. Carnosiflorae and Sect. IV. Hemsleya, among which 3 are new.     

Evolutionary history of the Afro-Madagascan Ixora species (Rubiaceae): species diversification and distribution of key morphological traits inferred from dated molecular phylogenetic trees

Background and Aims

Previous work on the pantropical genus Ixora has revealed an Afro-Madagascan clade, but as yet no study has focused in detail on the evolutionary history and morphological trends in this group. Here the evolutionary history of Afro-Madagascan Ixora spp. (a clade of approx. 80 taxa) is investigated and the phylogenetic trees compared with several key morphological traits in taxa occurring in Madagascar.

Methods

Phylogenetic relationships of Afro-Madagascan Ixora are assessed using sequence data from four plastid regions (petD, rps16, rpoB-trnC and trnL-trnF) and nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer (ETS) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The phylogenetic distribution of key morphological characters is assessed. Bayesian inference (implemented in BEAST) is used to estimate the temporal origin of Ixora based on fossil evidence.

Key Results

Two separate lineages of Madagascan taxa are recovered, one of which is nested in a group of East African taxa. Divergence in Ixora is estimated to have commenced during the mid Miocene, with extensive cladogenesis occurring in the Afro-Madagascan clade during the Pliocene onwards.

Conclusions

Both lineages of Madagascan Ixora exhibit morphological innovations that are rare throughout the rest of the genus, including a trend towards pauciflorous inflorescences and a trend towards extreme corolla tube length, suggesting that the same ecological and selective pressures are acting upon taxa from both Madagascan lineages. Novel ecological opportunities resulting from climate-induced habitat fragmentation and corolla tube length diversification are likely to have facilitated species radiation on Madagascar.     

Roscoea cangshanensis M. H. Luo,X. F. Gao & H. H. Lin,a new species of the Zingiberaceae from Yunnan,China

Roscoea cangshanensis M. H. Luo, X. F. Gao & H. H. Lin, a new species of the Zingiberaceae from Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is related to R. forrestii Cowley in habit, but differs in having 2-lobed labellum, each lobe 2-lobulate, base narrowed to a stalk with white lines, and narrower leaf blade, (2–)7–24×1.5–2.5 cm, with base narrow to petiole-like. The new species is also similar to R. debilis Gagnep. in having leaf base narrow to petiole-like, labellum obovate-cuneate, 2.5–3.5×2.5–3.0 cm, with white lines at throat, but differs in having bracts non-tubular, shorter, 5–15 mm long, concealed in leaf sheaths, corolla tubes longer, 10–12.5 cm long, labellum 2-lobed with each lobe further 2-lobulate.     

Picrorhiza tungnathii sp. nov. from western Himalaya,India

The new species Picrorhiza tungnathii Pusalkar is described and illustrated from the western Himalaya, India. It is distinguished from the allied P. kurrooa Royle ex Benth. by being 10–25 cm tall, having a moderately dense, (10–)15–25‐flowered spike, a zygomorphic, 2‐lipped, glandular‐ciliate corolla that is equaling or slightly exceeding the calyx and partly visible or sub‐exserted between the calyx lobes, a conspicuously long (longer than the corolla lobes), curved corolla tube (1/2–4/5 the length of the calyx), unequal corolla lobes that are ovate‐lanceolate to lanceolate, acute to sub‐acuminate and moderately ciliate, a mid‐lobe of the upper lip that is obliquely erect, galeate with retuse or emarginate apex, lateral corolla lobes that are slightly smaller than the mid‐lobe of the upper lip, a lower corolla lip that is slightly shorter than the lateral lobes, obliquely erect or spreading, didynamous, long‐exserted (2–3 times the corolla) stamens, pollen of the Paederota‐type and a style that is 2–3 times as long as the corolla.     

Convergence of anti-bee pollination mechanisms in the Neotropical plant genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drymonia</Emphasis> (Gesneriaceae)

The neotropical plant genus Drymonia displays a remarkable variety of floral shapes and colors. One feature that is particularly important to coevolution with pollinators involves the variable shapes and widths of corolla tubes. To evaluate the evolutionary context for changes in corolla shape, we constructed a phylogeny of 50 of the 75 species of Drymonia using molecular markers from plastid (trnK-matK) and nuclear regions (ITS and ETS). Mapping tube shapes on the phylogeny supports open, bell-shaped (campanulate) corolla shape as the ancestral character state for Drymonia, with multiple independent origins of constriction in the corolla tube. Corollas with constrictions take one of three tube shapes: a constricted flower opening and throat with a large, expanded pouch on the lower surface (hypocyrtoid); a constricted flower opening and throat lacking an expanded pouch on the lower surface (urceolate); or a constricted opening and throat where the sides of the corolla appear laterally compressed. Fieldwork demonstrates euglossine bees (mostly Euglossa spp. and Epicharis spp.) visit campanulate corollas while hummingbirds visit corollas that are constricted. Results support eight independent origins of constricted corolla tubes from ancestors with campanulate corolla tubes: 3 hypocyrtoid clades, 3 laterally compressed clades, and 3 urceolate clades (one of which represents a shift from a hypocyrtoid ancestor). Constricted corollas are associated with shifts from the ancestral condition of poricidal anther dehiscence, which presents pollen to pollinators in multiple small doses, to the derived condition of longitudinal anther dehiscence, which presents all pollen to pollinators simultaneously. The association of hummingbird pollination with constricted corolla tubes suggests that narrowing evolved as a barrier mechanism that prohibits the visitation of flowers by bees.