Magnolia nuevoleonensis sp. nov. (Magnoliaceae) from northeastern Mexico and a key to species of section Macrophylla

We describe and illustrate Magnolia nuevoleonensis A. Vázquez & Domínguez‐Yescas, a new deciduous tree species that belongs to M. sect. Macrophylla Figlar & Nooteboom. It is morphologically similar to M. ashei Weath., but differs from the latter in being a larger tree, with smaller flowers, larger and broadly ovoid (vs cylindrical to ellipsoid) fruits, prominently beaked (vs shortly beaked) carpels, and firm and short (vs flexible and elongated) styles.     

Crinum reddyi sp. nov. (Amaryllidaceae) from Gujarat,India

We here describe a new species of Crinum (Amaryllidaceae) from marshy areas along the Gira river, southern Gujarat, India. It superficially resembles C. solapurense but differs in having spherical or round, cremish white, tunicate bulbs, 10–17 distichous to sub distichous, canaliculated leaves, shorter, yellowish green peduncles (35–60 cm long), fewer flowers (up to 16), 6–12 capsules per infructscence, 4–7, chlorophyllous, rugose seeds per capsule and mainly vegetative propagation.     

Impatiens maculifera sp. nov. (Balsaminaceae) Yunnan,China

Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) is a notoriously difficult genus to study for reasons that include small, remote and endemic areas of occurrence, and difficulty in obtaining well‐dried herbarium specimens and separating and reconstructing floral parts from available dried specimens. Impatiens has also been notoriously difficult when it comes to phylogenetic resolution at the infrageneric level, but a new system with two subgenera (Impatiens and Clavicarpa) was recently proposed by Yu et al. and it has made it easier to classify newly discovered species. Impatiens maculifera, a new species of Balsaminaceae from Malipo County, Yunnan, China described here, is similar to I. parvisepala S.X. Yu & Y.T. Hou in having racemose inflorescences, four lateral sepals, clavate capsules and ellipsoid seeds, but differs in having leaves narrowly oval or with elliptic–lanceolate blades (versus obovate or obovate–lanceolate), obvious petioles (versus leaves subsessile), racemose inflorescence with 8–12 flowers (versus 6–8 flowers), flowers greenish yellow (versus yellow), lateral united petals and lower sepal with dense red spots (versus red spots absent), and dorsal petal with apparent stalk at base (versus unapparent stalk). Morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from both nuclear ribosomal and plastid genes show that the new species differs distinctively from I. parvisepala. Furthermore, I. maculifera is distinguished from other Impatiens species based on morphological, micromorphological and palynological evidence, and molecular data.     

秀雅羊耳蒜,中国羊耳蒜属(兰科)一新记录种

报道了兰科羊耳蒜属一新记录种——秀雅羊耳蒜(Liparis elegans Lindl.),并提供了详细的形态描述和照片。本种与近缘种细茎羊耳蒜(L. condylobulbon Rchb. f.)和L. parviflora (Blume) Lindley的区别是:卵状假鳞茎较短,花序直立,花不倒置,花梗和子房较短等。     

Ariopsis macrosperma sp. nov. (Araceae) from the northern Western Ghats,India

Ariopsis macrosperma sp. nov. from Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India, is described and illustrated. It differs from the other two species in the genus, A. peltata and A. protanthera, in having a typical terrestrial habit, growing on the soil as undergrowth below the forest canopy, thick, leathery leaves and lower number of larger, ovoid and ribbed seeds.     

Kuepferia kanchii sp. nov. (Gentianaceae) from Sikkim Himalaya

Kuepferia kanchii D. Maity, Sentu K. Dey & Adr. Favre, a new species from Sikkim Himalaya, is described and illustrated. It differs from its close relative K. infelix (C. B. Clarke) Adr. Favre ( = Gentiana infelix C. B. Clarke) by having sessile and smaller flowers, and smaller floral parts. Kuepferia kanchii is further characterized by a white corolla with bluish green patches on the outside at the base of each corolla lobe, and a corolla tube flushed with light green inside towards the base, blue filaments, sessile stigma, smaller capsule, and trigonous–elongated, ca 0.8 mm long and curved seeds.     

Memecylon trunciflorum sp. nov. (Melastomataceae–Olisbeoideae) from the Udzungwa Mountains,southern Tanzania

Described and illustrated is Memecylon trunciflorum R. D. Stone, an evidently localized endemic of the Udzungwa Mountains in southern Tanzania. The new species was previously confused with the vegetatively similar but distantly related M. erythranthum Gilg and M. semseii A. Fern. & R. Fern., from which it is distinguished by its anther connectives bearing a dorsal oil‐gland and by its ellipsoid to obovoid fruits (vs anther connective gland absent and fruits globose in M. erythranthum and M. semseii). The new species is placed in M. sect. Magnifoliata R. D. Stone together with M. magnifoliatum A. Fern. & R. Fern., from which it differs by its smaller leaves mostly 9.5–15.0 × 3.5–6.0 cm (vs 18–35 × 8–13 cm), transverse veins 8–18 pairs (vs 25–28 pairs), short‐pedunculate inflorescences with secondary axes well developed (vs peduncles and secondary axes absent), white flowers (vs bluish purple), and smaller fruits mostly 11.5–14.5 × 9–11 mm on longer fruiting pedicels 8.0–13.5 mm (vs fruits 17–20 × 12–14 mm on pedicels 5.0–7.5 mm). Despite its local endemism, Memecylon trunciflorum has been assessed as ‘Least Concern’ according to IUCN criteria, although this assessment is dependent on the continued safeguarding of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park.     

Capparis dongvanensis sp. nov. (Capparaceae) from Vietnam

Capparis dongvanensis (Capparaceae) is described as a new species and illustrated from Ha Giang Province of Vietnam. It is morphologically similar to C. lanceolaris and C. fengii, but differs in the number of flowers on peduncles, length of spine and petiole, apex of the leaf, type of inflorescence, petal color, cylindrical ovary without any beak, fruit shape and number of seeds per fruit. Diagnostic morphological characters along with pollen and seed SEM images of C. dongvanensis and allied species are provided. Its ecology, habitat and conservation status are also described.     

Impatiens nanlingensis sp. nov. (Balsaminaceae) from Guangdong,China

Impatiens nanlingensis A. Q. Dong & F. W. Xing, a new species of Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) from Guangdong, China, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to I. jinggangensis Y. L. Chen, but differs mainly by its lateral united petals; basal lobes suborbicular, marked with yellow stripes; distal lobes narrowly caudate, apex tailed. It also resembles I. bicornuta, but I. bicornuta differs mainly in its longer peduncles, up to 25 cm, pale blue–purple flowers and broadly sigmoid‐curved–saccate lower sepal.     

Primula zhui (Primulaceae) sp. nov. from south Yunnan,southwest China

Primula zhui a new species of Primula endemic to the Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to P. intanoensis from Thailand, and P. calyptrata from southeast Yunnan, affiliated to Primula sect. Carolinella (Hemsl.) Pax. However, it is easily distinguished from the Thailand species by its longer corolla tube and distylous flowers, and it differs from the Chinese species by its leaf ovate to ovate‐elliptic blade and distylous flowers.     

Burmannia bengkuluensis sp. nov. (Burmanniaceae) from Sumatra

A new species of Burmannia (Burmanniaceae), Burmannia bengkuluensis Tsukaya et Daernadi, discovered in a swamp adjacent to Bengkulu Airport, Sumatra, Indonesia, is described. It has poorly developed photosynthetic leaves and resembles B. ledermannii Jonker, described from a specimen collected in Palau, in having poorly developed leaves, narrowly 3‐winged erect flowers, and in particular, funnel‐shaped anthers, but differs in having dark purple flowers, longer outer perianth lobes, well‐developed, fan‐shaped inner perianth lobes, and a thick and short style. Sequence data on genomic DNA regions covering ITS1 and ITS2 are also provided.     

Rotala sahyadrica sp. nov. (Lythraceae) from Western Ghats,India

A new aquatic species, Rotala sahyadrica S. P. Gaikwad, Sardesai et S. R. Yadav sp. nov. collected from a fresh water lake on a high altitude lateritic plateau ecosystem of the Western Ghats, India is described and illustrated here. It is similar to R. tenella (Guill. & Perr.) Hiern but differs in having cleistogamous and chasmogamous flowers, nectary glands on calyx tube and 8–12 multi‐cellular black trichomes in the axils of bracteoles.     

Limonium cedrorum sp. nov. (Plumbaginaceae) from Lebanon

Limonium cedrorum Domina & Ramondo, a new species belonging to the L. palmare aggr., is described and illustrated from the inland near Becharre (Lebanon). Its relationships with morphologically close taxa are discussed. Limonium cedrorum differs from L. sieberi and L. postii mainly by looser inflorescences and larger flowers. It differs from L. galilaeum by longer outer bract and longer scale below the first inflorescence branch, few sterile branches, thicker base of the inflorescence and denser spikes, and from L. graecum by the shape of the inflorescence, longer basal internodes and the shape of the calyx.     

Thottea sasidharaniana sp. nov. (Aristolochiaceae) from Peninsular India

Thottea sasidharaniana (Aristolochiaceae), a new species from the southern part of the Western Ghats, India is described and illustrated. The new species is phenotypically close to the Indian species T. dinghoui. However, it differs from the latter in its ovate and glossy leaves, larger bracts, uniseriate stamens, 6 anthers, short and pubescent filaments and fewer seeds per fruits. It resembles T. tomentosa in having 6 distinct anthers, but the non‐urceolate flowers and the inflorescence architecture distinguish T. sasidharaniana from T. tomentosa. The latter species is distributed from Bangladesh, India (i.e. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Manipur), Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra to the Philippines.     

MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE NYMPHAEACEAE. XII. THE FLORAL BIOLOGY OF CABOMBA CAROLINIANA

Observations have been made on the pollination ecology of Cabomba caroliniana Gray in Texas. Flowers are trimerous with morphologically similar perianth parts. The adaxial corolla spurs are nectariferous and attract small Diptera (e.g. Notiphila cressoni and Hydrellia bilobifera). Anthesis occurs for 2 consecutive days with flowers opening about 10:00 a.m. and closing around 4 p.m. on each day. First-day flowers have short, indehiscent stamens and longer pollen-receptive stigmata which arch outward over the nectaries. In 2nd-day flowers the stamens have elongated to the level of the stigmata and extrorse dehiscense occurs above the nectaries. Stigmata of 2nd-day flowers are pressed together at the center of the flower and are nonreceptive to pollen. Insects attracted to 2nd-day flowers in search of nectar become dusted with pollen (due to the position and extrorse dehiscence of the anthers) and as insects fly to 1st-day flowers, achieve cross-pollination by virtue of the stigmata position over the nectaries. Seed anatomy is similar to that of other nymphaeaceous genera (i.e., abundant perisperm, little cellular endosperm, a haustorial nucellar “tube,” and a small dicotyledonous embryo). Pollination morphology and comparative xylem anatomy support the segregation of Cabomba from the Nymphaeaceae, sensu stricto. The anatomical correlations between seeds and the myophilous pollination syndrome (found elsewhere in Nymphaeaceae, sensu lato), however, suggest a phyletic relationship.     

Rotala tulunadensis sp. nov. (Lythraceae) from Kerala,India

A new aquatic species of the family Lythraceae (Rotala tulunadensis) collected from the lateritic plateau at Permude, Kerala, India is described and illustrated. It is closely allied to R. pterocalyx A. Raynal, but differs in having larger leaves, calyx tube not stretching laterally to include the capsule, calyx without interjected folds in fruit and larger petals.     

Impatiens pterocaulis sp. nov. (Balsaminaceae) from Guangxi,China

Impatiens pterocaulis S. X. Yu et L. R. Zhang, a new species of the Balsaminaceae from Yancha, Longlin, Guangxi Region, is described and illustrated. This species is similar to I. wilsonii in having nearly white flowers, 4 lateral sepals and a racememos inflorescence, but differs by having winged stems, very short‐spurred lower sepal, yellowish flowers and an acuminate dorsal petal apex. Pollen characters and leaf epidermal micro‐characters of these two species were studied, and the results support that the two species should be kept separate.     

Dionysia assadii sp. nov. (Primulaceae: sect. Dionysiopsis) from southern Iran

The new species Dionysia assadii (Primulaceae) from the Irano–Turanian region in Fars province, Iran, is described and illustrated. It is compared with its closest relative Dionysia esfandiarii Wendelbo and differs from it in leaf shape, leaf margin, hair density of leaves and other organs, shape of calyx and bracts, color of corolla and status of lobes, form and color of seeds, as well as the length of anthers and style in longistylous flowers.