Perilimnastes ovalifolia (H.L.Li) Ying Liu, 2024

Liu, Ying, Dai, Jin-Hong, Zhuang, Qi-Yuan, Zou, Chun-Yu & Ma, Kai-Nan, 2024, Resurrection of Perilimnastes (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae) with description of a new species P. nana, PhytoKeys 238, pp. 11-31 : 11

Perilimnastes ovalifolia (H.L.Li) Ying Liu comb. nov.

Phyllagathis ovalifolia H.L.Li, J. Arnold Arbor. 25: 31. 1944 (Basionym). Type: China. Yunnan: Ping-pien Hsien, 1,400 m, 7 Aug 1934, Tsai 61456 (holotype: A! [A00055329]; isotypes: PE! [PE00781713, PE00781714]).

Phyllagathis calisaurea C.Chen, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 4(3): 45. 1984. Type: China. Guangxi: Jingxi, Nanpo, Diding, 20 Jun 1978, T. Fang and X. H. Lu 23672 (holotype: GXMI! [GXMI050227]; isotype: GXMI! [GXMI050228]).

Phyllagathis ovalifolia var. pauciflora R.H.Miao, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 32(4): 61. 1993. Type: China. Yunnan: Maguan County, Z.R.Xu and B.Li GL86-7974 (holotype: SYS! [SYS00103897]).

Notes.

Phyllagathis calisaurea was described, based on specimens collected in western Guangxi, China ( Chen 1984b). Subsequent authors did not recognise it as a distinct species and synonymised it within P. ovalifolia ( Hansen 1992; Chen and Renner 2007). Phyllagathis calisaurea and P. ovalifolia have adjacent distribution ranges (Guangxi vs. Yunnan, China). They are morphologically quite similar, with the only differences being leaf size (6.5-11.5 × 2-3.7 cm vs. 9-18 × 3-8.5 cm), leaf shape (ovate lanceolate vs. ovate to elliptic) and indumentum of the stems and leaves. Nonetheless, they failed to form a monophyletic group in both the previous ( Zhou et al. 2022) and current phylogenetic analyses (Fig. 1 ). As only one accession of P. ovalifolia was included in these analyses, the boundary between P. ovalifolia and P. calisaurea needs to be further investigated using multiple accessions from across the distribution range. For the time being, we adhere to the species delimitation proposed by Hansen (1992) and Chen and Renner (2007).

Figures

Figure 1. The partitioned Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree inferred from the genomic SNP dataset using IQ-TREE, showing the four subclades within Perilimnastes [Phyllagathis (raphide) clade]. For the nodes without full support, values from SH-aLRT test (left) and ultrafast bootstrap (right) are given at the nodes. The new species is indicated with a star. Lineages with raphides are noted with solid circles.