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| Orophea phouphamarnensis D.Kong., Soulad. & Tagane, in Kongxaisavath, Tagane, Souvannakhoummane, Phengmala, Sengthong, Dang, Nguyen, Yamamoto, Tanaka, Takahashi et Souladeth, 2025. |
In Southeast Asia, approximately 408,000 km2 is covered with limestone, most of which was originally fragmented in distribution (Clements et al. 2006). In Laos, the limestone area is about 30,000 km2, covering ca. 12.6% of land in northern and central Laos. Khammouane Province, central Laos, is one of the core sites of limestone in the country where two main national protected areas, Phou Hin Poun National Protected Area and Hin Nam No National Park, are well known. In addition, the Nam Sanam-Phou Pha Marn Provincial Protected Area (hereafter PPA) covers an area of about 1,500 km2, in which the Rock Viewpoint Phou Pha Marn covers a huge area of the PPA.
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During our field surveys in the limestone karst of the Rock Viewpoint Phou Pha Marn, a species of Orophea was
collected. After further comparisons with related taxa based on the literature and herbarium specimens, it was found
to be a species of subg. Sphaerocarpon, morphologically most similar to O. laotica, but differing from all previously
known species in the genus. Here, we describe it as a new species.
Flora, inventory, Magnoliales, Sphaerocarpon, taxonomy, Magnoliids
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| Orophea phouphamarnensis. A. Flowering branch. B. Lower leaf surface. C. Inflorescence, top view and side view. D. Flower. E, F. Sepal (abaxial and adaxial). G, H. Outer petal (abaxial and adaxial). I, J. Inner petals (abaxial and adaxial). K. Stamen, L. Pistil. Photos A–C, K. Souvannakhoummane and D–J, L by D. Kongxaisavath of Tagane et al. Z994 (FOF). |
Orophea phouphamarnensis D.Kong., Soulad. & Tagane, sp. nov.
Orophea phouphamarnensis is most similar to O. laotica in leaf shape and size but distinguished by a number of morphological features, especially stamen and carpel numbers (Table 1).
Etymology:—Referring to the type locality, Phou Pha Marn.
Vernacular name:—Pha marn Inthy (ຜາມ່ານອິນທີ; Lao), proposed here. Pha marn refers to an area, and Inthy refers to Inthy Deuansavanh, who established walking trails on the limestone karst that enabled access to the core area of Phou Pha Marn.
Deuanta KONGXAISAVATH, Shuichiro TAGANE, Keooudone SOUVANNAKHOUMMANE, Kajonesuk PHENGMALA, Anousone SENGTHONG, Van-Son DANG, Quoc Bao NGUYEN, Takenori YAMAMOTO, Nobuyuki TANAKA, Kotaro T. TAKAHASHI and Phetlasy SOULADETH. 2025. Orophea phouphamarnensis (Annonaceae), A New Species from limestone karst in central Laos. Phytotaxa. 687(1); 15-20. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.687.1.3 [2025-02-13]
