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| Impatiens bungeilang Mustaqim, in Mustaqim, Mahardhika, Fauzan, Arico, Primananda et Robiansyah, 2024. |
Abstract
Impatiens bungeilang Mustaqim is described here as a species new to science based on plants collected from the northern Gayo Plateau, northern Sumatra. A detailed description, notes on distribution, ecology, phenology, notes, and color photographs are provided. According to the IUCN Red List Criteria, this species is here considered Critically Endangered due to its small geographic range and heavily fragmented as well as degraded habitats.
Keyword: Impatiens bungeilang, Impatiens calendulina, Impatiens heterosepala, Indonesia, Malesia, montane plant, taxonomy
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| Morphology of Impatiens bungeilang Mustaqim, sp. nov. A. Living plant. B. Leaf (adaxial). C. Leaf (abaxial). D. Inflorescence. E. Flower (front-view). F. Flower (lateral view). G. Dorsal petal. H. Lateral sepals. I. Lateral united petals. J. Lower sepal. K. Stamens and pistil. Photographs By Wendy A. Mustaqim. |
Impatiens bungeilang Mustaqim, sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Impatiens bungeilang has a similar flower morphology to Impatiens heterosepala Hook.f. by the flowers arranged in raceme, each with bucciniform lower sepal that more or less abruptly constricted into a filiform spur, and long lateral sepals. However, I. bungeilang differs in having pseudowhorled leaves (vs spiral), lamina with more lateral veins (9 (–10) vs 3–6 pairs), more flowers per inflorescence (5–14 vs 1–2), and larger flowers having lower sepals with spur thickened in the upper 3/5 (vs only at the apex). Besides that, I. bungeilang is also similar to Impatiens calendulina Grey-Wilson, especially by having the whorled leaves and the bucciniform lower sepal, but differs by the leaves bearing more lateral veins (9 (–10) vs 5–6 pairs), flower bracts ovate (vs linear-lanceolate) and longer (9–11 mm vs 5–7 mm), lower sepal more or less gradually (vs abruptly) constricted into spur, spur shorter (16 mm vs 21 mm long) thickened for 3/5 of its length (vs only at the very apex), and lower petals of lateral petals with small oblong and strongly recurved lobes at the base of apical margin (vs lobes absent or short and not recurved) (Table 1).
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Distribution and Ecology: Endemic to Sumatra: northern part of Gayo Plateau (Fig. 2). This species was found in mid montane forest, usually on shaded localities, from 1805 to 1985 m elevation.
Etymology: The epithet bungeilang is derived from the Gayonese language (‘bunge’ means flower, ‘ilang’ means red), refers to the red color of the flower.
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| Living photographs of Impatiens rubiflora from Mount Tujuh, Jambi Province, one of the species in Sumatra that possess red flowers. A. Plant. B. Flowers. Photographs by Wendy A. Mustaqim. |
Wendy A. Mustaqim, Ahmad Y. Mahardhika, Yusuf S.A. Fauzan, Zulfan Arico, Enggal Primananda and Iyan Robiansyah. 2024. A New Species of Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) from northern Gayo Plateau, northern Sumatra. Taiwania. 69(1); 57-61. DOI: 10.6165/tai.2024.69.57