Showing posts with label Alismataceae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alismataceae. Show all posts

Friday, February 6, 2026

[Botany • 2022] Sagittaria siamaginashi (Alismataceae) • A New Species from Thailand and Myanmar

 
Sagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K. Itoh,  
     
in Shiga, Kato, Suzuki, ... et Itoh, 2022.   

Abstract
A new species of Sagittaria (Alismataceae), S. siamaginashi, characterized by a cylindrical branch with numerous tubercles in each leaf axil, is described from Thailand and Myanmar. The scapes and inflores- cences were not seen in nature, but gibberellin-treated individuals flowered under cultivation. In floral morphology, S. siamaginashi is similar to the Chinese endemic, S. lichuanensis. A phylogenetic study based on DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer and chloroplast rpl16 intron, psbA–trnH spacer and trnC–petN (ycf6) spacer regions showed that S. siamaginashi and S. lichuanensis were sister taxa. A key to the taxa of Sagittaria in E and SE Asia is also provided.

Keywords: psbA–trnH spacer, rpl16 intron, Sagittaria aginashi, Sagittaria lichuanensis, Sagittaria potamogetifolia, Sagittaria tengtsungensis, trnC–petN (ycf6) spacer


Holotype of Sagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K. Itoh, sp. nov. (A. Tanutong 238-D)
 a, Magnified view of cylindrical branches (black arrows) with tubercles (white arrows) is also shown (b).

Sagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K. Itoh, sp. nov.
Habit (a, Khun Wang, Mae Wang District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, August 12, 2004), flowering plant (b), branching inflorescence (c), staminate flower (d), pistillate flower (e), leaf (f), lateral leaf lobe apex (g), cross section of petiole in middle (h), sheath and tubercles (i), cylindrical branch with tubercles [dorsal (j) and ventral (k)], cylindrical branches with tubercles removed (l), and mature tubercles (m). Images in b–m are photographs of plants in cultivation. Inflorescences (b–e) were produced after plants were treated with gibberellin (see main text for details).

Sagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K. Itoh, sp. nov.

Haec species nova Sagittariae lichuanensi et S. aginashi proxime affinis est; sed ab ea axe axillari bulbifero sylindraceo et bulbillis pleiomeris (15–50) differ.

Etymology.
 The specific epithet is derived from the former name of ThailandSiam and the related Sagittaria aginashi. Dr. Jiro Harada, who originally found the species in 1986 (Harada et al. 1987), referred to the species as ‘Siam aginashi (Sagittaria sp.)’ in his publications (e.g. Harada et al. 2001, 2002, Niitsu et al. 2003, 2004a, 2004b, Suzuki et al. 2005). 

Thail name. Nor doa (Chiang Mai Province), Phak Gam (Northeast Thailand). 

Distribution and habitat. Thailand and Myanmar (Fig. 1). In ponds, marshes, riversides and paddy fields.



Takashi Shiga, Syou Kato, Katsuyoshi Suzuki, Kazumasa Tsubota, Siriporn Zungsontiporn, Tanchanok Jongrukthai, Ansaya Promma, Akekarat Tanutong, Mu Mu Aung, Norio Tanaka, Qixiang Lu and Kazuyuki Itoh. 2022. Sagittaria siamaginashi (Alismataceae): A New Species from Thailand and Myanmar. Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 73(1); 35-47. DOI: 10.18942/apg.202022

Friday, September 8, 2023

[PaleoBotany • 2023] Nichima gen. nov. (Alismataceae) based on Reproductive Structures from the Oligocene-Miocene of Mexico



a and b Nichima magalloniae 
c and d N. gonzalez-medranoi 
L.Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián, 

in Hernández-Sandoval, Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián, 2023. 

Abstract
Premise of the study: 
Alismataceae, a sub-cosmopolitan 28 family with ca. 17 genera 29 and 113 species, is a large group of aquatic plants. Compression/impressions and bio-inclusions in amber support the documentation of the lineage in low-latitude North America. In Mexico, fossil aquatic plants have been infrequently documented. The new flowers recognize a group mainly known through fruits and seeds.

Material and Method: 
Impression/compression reproductive structures from the Oligocene Los Ahuehuetes locality, Puebla, and bio-inclusions from the Miocene amber of Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico, known through 150 samples. They are described and compared with extinct and extant taxa. A parsimony analysis based on 29 floral characters of 17 extant genera of the Alismataceae evaluates the relationship between the fossil material and their potential living relatives.

Results: 
Nichima gen. nov. is a perfect, actinomorphic flower with an expanded receptacle, three persistent sepals with multi-vasculature, delicate and caducous petals, six stamens, and gynoecium composed of three to more superior carpels, maturing into achenes. These characteristics resemble flowers of Alismataceae. Nichima represents an extinct member of the family, with two new speciesNichima magalloniae L. Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián sp. nov. and Nichima gonzalez-medranoi L. Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián, sp. nov. Their phylogenetic position suggests affinity with a clade that includes Baldiella, Echinodorus, and Alisma.

Conclusions: 
Reproductive structures from the Cenozoic of Mexico support the identification of a new extinct genus, Nichima, evidencing Alismataceae's extensive history in North America's low latitudes and suggests a southern extension of the Boreotropical Flora.

Keywords: Botreotropical Flora, Cenozoic, Fossil, aquatic plant, NichimaStatzia

  

Genus⎼ Nichima L.Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián, gen. nov.

Etymology⎼ The generic name refers to the word flower in Tzotzil, a Maya language spoken by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Generic diagnosis⎼ Bisexual trimerous flowers, extended receptacle; calyx aposepalous, three persistent sepals; corolla apopetalous, three, narrow to unguiculate at the base, caducous petals; stamens 6, filaments flat, widened and connate at the base, anthers latrorse, ovate; carpels 3-6, fused at the apex, but separated at maturity; style very short or wanting, terminal; stigma punctuate.

Fossil flowers reconstructions with an inflorescence organization proposal. Only isolated flowers have been recollected; inflorescences are based on comparison with extant ones of closely related plants.
a and b Nichima magalloniae L.Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián; c and d N. gonzalez-medranoi L.Hern., Cevallos-Ferriz et Hernández-Damián.


 Luis Hernández-Sandoval, Sergio R. S. Cevallos-Ferriz and Ana L. Hernández-Damián. 2023. Nichima gen. nov. (Alismataceae) based on Reproductive Structures from the Oligocene-Miocene of Mexico. American Journal of Botany. DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16231