Actinostephanus (Gesneriaceae), a new genus and species from Guangdong, South China

By

Wen, Fang
Xin, Zibing
Hong, Xin
Cai, Lei
Chen, Xiao-Yun
Liang, Jun-Jie
Wang, Hui-Feng
Maciejewski, Stephen
Wei, Yi-Gang
Fu, Long-Fei

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-3-22

Original Publication

PhytoKeys

Volume

193

Pages

89--106

Subjects

Boeica , Didymocarpoideae , Flora of China , IUCN , Leptoboea , Phylogeny

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers [2010]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.193.80715

 

Abstract

Actinostephanus, a new genus from southern China, is described and colorfully illustrated with a single species, A. enpingensis. This new genus is morphologically most similar to Boeica and Leptoboea, nevertheless, it can be easily distinguished from the latter two by the following characteristics, such as leaves in whorls of three, all closely clustered at the top; corolla bowl-shaped, 5-lobed, actinomorphic; capsule hard, oblong-ovoid, short, 3–4 mm long, densely appressed villous, wrapped by persistent densely pubescent calyx lobes, style persistent. The new genus and related genera were sequenced using the next-generation sequencing technique. The whole plastid genome of the new genus is 154, 315 – 154, 344 bp in length. We reconstructed phylogenetic trees using the dataset of 80 encoded protein genes of the whole plastid genome from 47 accessions based on ML and BI analyses. The result revealed that the new genus was recovering in a polytomy including Boeica, Rhynchotechum, and Leptoboea with strong support, congruent to the morphological evidence. A global conservation assessment was also performed and classifies A. enpingensis as Least Concern (LC). In addition, after a review of recently described species of Gesneriaceae, we propose that plant enthusiasts, especially Gesneriad fans, have been playing an increasingly important role in the process of new taxa-discoveries.