ABSTRACT
Phlomoides is one of the largest genera of Lamiaceae with approximately 150-170 species distributed mainly in Eurasia. In this study, we describe and illustrate a new species, P.henryi, which was previously misidentified as P.bracteosa, from Yunnan Province, southwest China. Molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that P.henryi is found within a clade in which most species lack basal leaves. In this clade, the new species is morphologically distinct from P.rotata in having an obvious stem and, from the rest, by having transparent to white trichomes inside the upper corolla lip. In addition, micro-features of trichomes on the calyx and leaf epidermis can differentiate the new species from other species grouped in the same clade and a key, based on trichome morphology for these species, is provided. The findings demonstrate that the use of scanning electron microscopy can reveal inconspicuous morphological affinities amongst morphologically similar species and play an important role in the taxonomic study of the genus Phlomoides.
ABSTRACT
The indumentum of nutlets is shown to be of phylogenetic importance in previous molecular phylogenetic studies of Paraphlomis, a genus of Lamiaceae with approximately 30 species distributed mainly in southern China and Southeast Asia. Nearly half the species of Paraphlomis are known from limestone areas. In this study, we described and illustrated a new species, P.hsiwenii, from the karst mountain forests in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that P.hsiwenii is recovered in a clade consisting of species with hairy nutlets. The new species is morphologically most similar to P.pagantha from the same clade, but they differ in the morphology of lamina bases, length of pedicels and calyces, as well as the morphology of upper corolla lips.
