Codonoboea ruthiae Syahida-Emiza, Y.Y.Sam & Siti-Munirah, 2020

Syahida-Emiza, Suhaimi, Sam, Yen Yen & Siti-Munirah, Mat Yunoh, 2020, Two new species of Codonoboea (Gesneriaceae) from Kenaboi State Park, Peninsular Malaysia, PhytoKeys 165, pp. 51-62 : 51

Codonoboea ruthiae Syahida-Emiza, Y.Y.Sam & Siti-Munirah sp. nov. Figs 4 , 5 , Map 1

Diagnosis.

Amongst species in Codonoboea sect. Didymanthus , Codonoboea ruthiae is most similar to C. ramosa (Ridl.) Kiew, but can be distinguished by having a larger lamina (9.5-15.5 × 3.5-6.2 cm vs 5.1-7.6 × c. 3.8 cm) with more lateral veins (10-12 vs c. 7 pairs); the inflorescences in C. ruthiae consists of 5-6 flowers (only 2 in C. ramosa ) with larger flowers (corolla tube 1.7-1.9 cm long vs c. 1.3 cm long) and flower colour (maroon vs greenish yellow)

Type.

Peninsular Malaysia. Negeri Sembilan: Jelebu, Kenaboi Forest Reserve, 3°10'48.6"N, 101°58'19.9"E, 30 October 2017, Syahida Emiza, S., Sam, Y.Y., Yap, J.W., Angan, A. & Markandan, M. FRI 86960 (holotype: KEP)

Description.

Erect, perennial herb, 20-50 cm tall. Stems slender-branched, 3-4 mm diameter, semi-woody at base. Leaves decussate, pairs spaced up to 4.5 cm apart, very unequal; petioles slender, grooved above, pale green, puberulous to glabrescent; smaller leaves less than half the size of larger leaves, petioles 0.5-1.5 cm, c. 0.1 cm diameter, laminas 5.5-7.5 × 1.5-3 cm; larger leaf with petioles 1.0-3.2 cm long, c. 0.1 cm diameter, laminas lanceolate to ovate, 9.5-15.5 × 3.5-6.2 cm, asymmetric, thinly coriaceous, mid-green above, glabrous, pale green beneath, sparsely puberulous to glabrescent, base oblique, apex acute, margin serrulate, sparsely puberulous; midrib and lateral veins raised on both surfaces, sparsely puberulous to glabrescent, lateral veins 10-12 pairs, alternately arranged, intercostal veins reticulate, slightly prominent. Inflorescences at upper most leaf axils, erect, pair-flowered cyme twice branched with 5-6 flowers; indumentum of floral parts a combination of glandular and simple hairs, simple hairs 0.75-1 mm long; peduncle 4-5 cm, reddish green, densely hairy; bracts and bracteoles lanceolate, bracts c. 3.2 × 0.7 mm, bracteoles c. 2.5 × 0.5 mm. Flowers: pedicels 2-10 mm long, greenish maroon, densely hairy; calyx mid-green, densely hairy, 5-lobed, calyx lobes three quarters of the calyx length, lobes narrowly acute, 2.1-2.5 × 0.4-0.5 mm, apex slightly blunt; corolla trumpet-shaped, 20-24 mm long, base narrow, 1-1.5 mm wide, dilating to 7-8 mm wide at mouth, tube 17-19 mm long, veins conspicuous, outside pale maroon, sparsely hairy and hirsute, inside with deep maroon streaks, throat with two yellow nectar guides, veins conspicuous, pubescent from base up to stamens attach, upper lobes nearly rounded, c. 4 × 5 mm, slightly reflexed, side lobes rounded c. 5 × 5 mm, lower lobe near transverse elliptic, c. 5 × 7 mm; stamens 2; filaments slender, c. 5.3 mm long, glabrous, slightly curved upward, attached to corolla tube at c. 7 mm from base, anthers reniform, small, c. 2 mm long, 0.6 mm wide, white, dorsifixed, fused face-to-face; nectary annular, c. 1.3 mm tall, rim undulate, glabrous; pistil whitish-cream, c. 13 mm long, ovary 7-8 × c. 0.6 mm, glabrous; style 5-6 mm long, white, sparsely hirsute; stigma peltate, c. 0.8 mm across, papillose. Capsules cylindrical, very slender, 25-40 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, maroon-green, densely hairy, splitting adaxially when mature; calyx persistent. Seeds elliptic-oblong, c. 0.3 mm × 0.25 mm.

Other specimens examined.

Peninsular Malaysia. Selangor: Hulu Langat, Sungai Lalang Forest Reserve, Compartment 42, 29 June 2004, Sam Y.Y. et al. FRI 47248 (KEP), Compartment 43, 13 February 2019, Sam Y.Y. et al. FRI 69261 (KEP, K, L, SAN, SAR, SING).

Distribution.

Peninsular Malaysia, recorded in Negeri Sembilan and Selangor.

Ecology.

In lowland dipterocarp forest, on forest floor, hill side or slope near shaded small stream at 130-335 m altitude. Flowering in February, June and October.

Etymology.

Named after Dr. Ruth Kiew, a prominent botanist, plant taxonomist and conservationist. She is well known for her work on herbaceous plants such as begonias and gesneriads, and also limestone and montane flora.

Conservation status.

Least Concern (LC). Codonoboea ruthiae is well protected within the Protected Area Network. Its existence in Kenaboi State Park and also at the water catchment forest in Sungai Lalang Forest Reserve, Selangor, which is categorised as a Protection Forest, is legally secured under the National Forestry Act 1984 ( Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources 2019). Furthermore, no threat to the species population has been identified.

Discussion.

Codonoboea ruthiae belongs to Codonoboea sect. Didymanthus ( Lim and Kiew 2014) characterised by opposite and well-spaced petiolate leaves. It closely resembles C. ramosa in its slender-branched stem, distant pairs of leaves, one of each pair much smaller, oblique lamina base and trumpet-shaped flowers ( Ridley 1923). However, C. ruthiae can be distinguished from C. ramosa by a combination of characters shown in Table 1 .

Figures

Map 1. Distribution of Codonoboea kenaboiensis (circle) and Codonoboea ruthiae (triangle) in Peninsular Malaysia.

Figure 4. Illustration of Codonoboea ruthiae Syahida-Emiza, Y. Y. Sam & Siti-Munirah, sp. nov. A habit B inflorescence C calyx D flower opened to show position of stamens E pistil F anthers G stigma H bract I fruit (All from FRI 86960, drawn by Mohamad Aidil Noordin).

Figure 5. Codonoboea ruthiae Syahida-Emiza, Y. Y. Sam & Siti-Munirah. A habitat B habit C inflorescence with flower and pistil (corolla fallen) D flowers from front view E flower and fruits F longitudinal section of flower G capsule.