Corresponding author: Vicki A. Funk (
Academic editor: A. Sennikov
The enigmatic monospecific
Robert Merrill King (1930–2007) was associated with the Smithsonian Institution from 1962 until 1998. During that time he organized many collecting trips to gather
In summary, what survives of the species is the herbarium specimen that has only the small scraps that became the type (
Image of the holotype of
Field photograph of
Illustration of
The dried specimen material of
The microscope slide was made using Hoyer’s solution with a formula as given by
Until this paper,
Peru; Amazonas, mountains behind Tingo, 6500 Ft., 21 Jan 1983,
Small shrub with milky sap; opposite leaves that are tri-nervate with a bullate upper surface and an under surface covered with a dense, grayish-wooly tomentum; two rows of subequal involucral bracts; short (~ 1mm) style branches; 8–10 ribs on the achenes and a bi-seriate pappus of subequal bristles (
Diagnostic characters of the genera of the Liabeae. Note the dual placement of
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Erect shrubs | yes | 3 | yes | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | short | 4-5 angled | none | none |
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Shrub-sm trees | no | pinnate | yes | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | ~10 ribs | bristles | scales |
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Shrubs/vines | no | pinnate | yes | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | 5 to 8 ribs | bristles | scales/ bristles |
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Herbs | no | pinnate | yes | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | 7 to 10 ribs | bristles | lost |
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Shrubs | no | pinnate | yes/no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | 5 to 8 ribs | bristles | scales |
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Perennial herbs/subshrubs | no | pinnate/ weakly 3 | no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | 10 ribs | bristles | bristles |
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perennial herbs/woody vines/subshrubs/sm trees | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes & no | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | 8 to 10 ribs | bristles | scales |
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Shrub | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | long | ~10 ribs | bristles | lost |
Shrubs | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | dark | regular | white | short | 6 to 10 ribs | bristles | scales | |
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Perennial herbs | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | dark | regular | yellow | short | ~10 ribs | bristles | none |
Annual/perennial herbs; shrubs/subshrubs | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | dark | regular | yellow | short | 6 to 10 ribs | bristles | scales | |
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Erect shrubs | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | red | short | 8 to 10 ribs | plumose | none |
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Perennial herbs/subshrubs | yes | palmate | no | glabrous | yes | dark | irregular | yellow | short | 4-sided | bristles | none |
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Decumbent or creeping herbs | yes | 3 | no | glabrous | yes | dark | irregular | yellow | short | 2-compressed | none | none |
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Perennial herbs | yes | pinnate | yes/no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | short | ~10 ribs | bristles | bristles |
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Perennial herbs | yes | pinnate | yes/no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | red | short | ~10 ribs | bristles | scales |
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Shrub 0.5 m | yes | 3 | yes | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | short | 8 to 10 ribs | bristles | bristles |
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Perennial herbs | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | short | 2-compressed | plumose | none |
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Annual-perennial herb/ subshrub | yes | 3 | no | wooly | yes | light yellow | irregular | yellow | short | 8 to 10 ribs | scales/bristles | scales/bristles |
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All members of the Liabeae have opposite leaves although some have very short internodes so they appear to have rosettes. Also, all members have milky sap and/or wooly light colored tomentum on the undersurface of the leaves.
The specimen label says that the plants are ½ m tall, have yellow flowers and lots of milky sap. An examination of the field notebook from the King & Bishop expedition did not provide any additional information about the plant or the location, however, an examination of their route that day shows that on the 21st of January their collecting started as they drove south from Tingo (
In their 2012 paper Funk et al. suggested that the shrubby habit and bullate leaves of