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| Melastoma malabituin Agcaoili, Barcelona, & Pelser in Agcaoili, Barcelona & Pelser, 2020. |
Abstract
Melastoma malabituin is described and illustrated. This new species is currently only known from the municipalities of San Mariano and Echague, Isabela Province, Luzon, Philippines, where it is found in remnants of secondary lowland forests in the Sierra Madre mountain range. It is characterized by having densely pilose indumentum on young stems and petioles, penicillate trichomes on its hypanthium, and serrulate and ciliate petals with an apical penicillate emergence.
Keywords: Myrtales, Melastomataceae, Melastoma, Eudicots
Melastoma malabituin Agcaoili, Barcelona, & Pelser, sp. nov.
Diagnosis:— Melastoma malabituin is similar to M. yiianthum K.M.Wong (Wong 2016) in having penicillate hypanthium emergences, and petioles and internodes with pilose indumentum. Melastoma malabituin, however, has hypanthium with notably longer stalks, 5-veined instead of 7-veined leaves, longer pedicels, and a
narrower hypanthium.
Etymology:— The epithet ‘malabituin’ refers to the Tagalog word for ‘resembling a star’ (mala- = like/resembling/ similar to; bituin = star). This is in reference to the penicillate hypanthium emergences of M. malabituin.
Distribution and ecology:— This species is only known from a remnant of secondary lowland forest in the municipalities of Echague and San Mariano. In Echague, it grows on dry but moist rocky substrate in a semi-shaded area just beside a contributory canal of the Ilagen/Ilagwen River (loco dicto), which runs through both municipalities. Some small populations were also observed in an open and exposed area, where they co-occur with other Melastomataceae species.
John Michael Agcaoili, Julie F arcelona and Pieter B. Pelser. 2020. Melastoma malabituin (Melastomataceae): A New Species from northern Luzon, Philippines. Phytotaxa. 435(1); 25–32. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.435.1.3
