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| Lysionotus calcicola Phonep., Soulad. & Souvann., in Souvannakhoummane, Phonepaseuth, Souladeth, Lanorsavanh, Tagane et Tanaka, 2025. |
Abstract
A new species of Gesneriaceae, Lysionotus calcicola Phonep., Soulad. & Souvann., is described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular evidence. This species is distributed in limestone karsts in the Luangprabang, Vientiane and Khammouane provinces in northern and central Laos. The new species can be distinguished from the hitherto known species in the genus by its deciduous shrubby habit, up to 2 m tall, and oldest stems with 4-rounded edges and longitudinal grooves, but young branches non-grooved, which are considered to be an adaptation to the severe environment in limestone karst and cliffs. ML tree based on ITS showed that the new species form a well-supported clade (94%), sister to the remaining Lysionotus species. Information on its distribution, ecology, phenology, vernacular name, and a provisional conservation assessment are provided.
keywords: Didymocarpoideae, flora of Laos, Indochina, Phou Pha Marn PPA, taxonomy
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| Lysionotus calcicola Phonep., Soulad. & Souvann. (A) Habit, (B) flower lateral view, (C) flower top view, (D) corolla opened out showing stamens and staminodes, (E) stamens and staminodes, (F) calyx, (G) pistil, (H) fresh fruit, (I) seeds. Drawn from Souladeth et al. PPM034(FOF) by K. Souvannakhoummane. |
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| Lysionotus calcicola Phonep., Soulad. & Souvann. (A-B) Habitat and habit, (C) 4-angled stem, (D) cross section of stem, (E) arrangement of leaves, (F) flower, font view, (G-H) inflorescences, (I) corolla opened out, (J) stamens and base of corolla tube, (K) calyx opened (L) pistil, (M) young fruit with calyx, (N) seeds. Photos from Souladeth et al. PPM034 (FOF). (A–F) and (L) by P. Phonepaseuth, (G–K) by K. Souvannakhoummane, (N) by D. Kongxaisavath. |
Lysionotus calcicola Phonep., Soulad. & Souvann. sp. nov.
Diagnosis: A species similar to Lysionotus chingii Chun ex W.T.Wang of China in having papery leaves, glabrous peduncles, white funnel-shaped corollas, and subulate seed appendages, but distinguished by its 4-rounded-angled and longitudinally grooved stems (versus terete), sparsely puberulent lamina (versus glabrous), corolla sparsely short glandular hairy on both surfaces (versus glabrous on outer surface), and sparsely glandular hairy pistil (versus glabrous). For further comparison see Table 2.
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Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the Latin word ‘calcicola' meaning ‘growing on calcareous substrate', which is the habitat where this plant is found.
Vernacular name: Dok Nga Xang Hin (ດອກງາຊ້າງຫີນ), proposed here. ‘Dok Nga Xang' in Laos refers to a given name for the genus Lysionotus, and ‘Hin' refers to limestone karst, the type of habitat where this plant is found.
Keooudone Souvannakhoummane, Phongphayboun Phonepaseuth, Phetlasy Souladeth, Soulivanh Lanorsavanh, Shuichiro Tagane and Nobuyuki Tanaka. 2025. Studies on the Gesneriaceae in Laos II: Lysionotus calcicola, A New Species from Limestone Karsts in north and central Laos, supported by morphological and molecular evidence. Nordic Journal of Botany. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/njb.04620 [17 April 2025]
