Academic editor: A. Sukhorukov
A new species
Rana HK, Rana SK, Sun H, Fujikawa K, Luo D, Joshi LR, Ghimire SK (2021)
Genus
A distinct population of
Three
Morphological characteristics were described based on both observation and measurement collected with a ruler, calipers and electronic digital compound microscope. For the comparative morphological characteristics of allied taxa (
Total genomic DNA was extracted from ~20 mg herbarium leaf tissue using a modified cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (
Accession numbers of the allied taxa of
Species name | Accession numbers | Species name | Accession numbers | Species name | Accession numbers | Species name | Accession numbers |
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Talung valley, between Nyalu Pass and Ning Tsho, open gravelly or stony slopes,
Perennial herb, caespitose, 22–50 cm tall. Caudex branched, stout, apex covered with petioles’ residues. Stem well-developed leafy, erect, simple, stiff, > 1.3 cm in diameter, purplish-brown at maturity, covered with brownish-white tomentose hairs. Basal leaves petiolate; petioles 9.0–10.5 cm; leaf blades lanceolate, chartaceous, 10–15 × 2.5–4.0 cm, adaxially green, with brownish-white tomentose hairs, abaxially greenish-white, with dense white tomentose hairs, base attenuate, margin purplish, sinuate-dentate to shallowly pinnately lobed, lobe margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, midvein distinct, purplish-green. Cauline leaves 5–7, gradually decreasing in size upwards, margin purplish; lower cauline leaves petiolate, petiole to 4 cm, leaf blades lanceolate, 8.0–11.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm, apex acute or acuminate; middle and upper cauline leaves subsessile to sessile, narrowly lanceolate to linear, 4.0–7.5 × 0.6–1.2 cm, undivided, margin dentate, purplish-green uppermost leaves subtending the capitula or synflorescence. Capitula 1 or 3 (2 not seen), shortly pedunculate to subsessile, tomentose. Involucres campanulate, 1.2–2.0 cm in diameter. Phyllaries in 4 to 5 series, imbricate, densely tomentose, apically purplish, acuminate, spreading to reflexed; outer phyllaries ovate-elliptic, 7–10 × 3.0–3.5 mm, middle phyllaries elliptic, 11–13 × 2.5–3.0 mm, inner phyllaries narrowly elliptic to linear, 13–15 × ca. 2 mm, only tips densely tomentose. Receptacles with bristles, ca. 4 mm long. Florets > 20; corolla purplish, 10.0–12.5 mm long; limb 4–6 mm including 1.5–2.2 mm lobes; tube 5–7 mm long. Anthers ca. 5 mm long, tails lanate, ca. 1.2 mm long. Style branches ca. 1.2 mm long, reflexed, short, papillate. Achenes cylindrical, 3.5–4.5 × 1.5–2.0 mm, ribbed, glabrous, apex shortly crowned. Pappus in two rows, pale brown; outer bristles 3.0–4.5 mm, scabrid, deciduous; inner bristles 10–12 mm long, plumose, persistent, sub-equaling floret.
Flowering and fruiting from July to September.
The specific epithet is derived with reference to the type locality of
Distribution of
Critical examination of collected specimens, comparison with type material of allied taxa and relevant taxonomic literature revealed that
Live plants and microscopic photographs of
Illustration of
Character comparison of
Characters |
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> 1.3 cm / stiff | ≤ 1 cm / less stiff or herbaceous | ≤ 1.2 cm or more / stiff |
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10–15 × 2.5–4.0 cm / 9.0–10.5 cm | 7.5–25.0 × 0.5–2.0 cm / to 5 cm rarely up to 8 cm | 7–28(–30) × 1.5–4.7 cm / 4–9 cm |
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lanceolate, comparatively broader, chartaceous, margin purplish, base attenuate | lanceolate, chartaceous, margin green, base attenuate | oblong to narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, margin green, base decurrent |
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1 or 3 (2 not seen) | usually 1, rarely 2 | 1 to 3 |
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4 to 5 rows, densely pubescent (outer exposed parts) | ca. 5 rows, densely pubescent | 4 to 6 rows, sparsely pubescent |
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ovate-elliptic, 7–10 × 3.0–3.5 mm | ovate-elliptic, 16–18 × 1.5 mm | narrowly triangular or ovate-triangular, 7–12 × 2–3 mm |
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narrowly elliptic to linear, 13–15 × 2 mm | broadly linear, 20–22 × 2.3–2.5 mm | linear-narrowly lanceolate, 11–13 × 1–2 mm |
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ca. 4 mm long | 6–8 mm long | 5–7 mm long |
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1.0–1.25 cm (5–7 mm / 4–6 mm with 1.5–2.2 mm lobes) | 1.2–2.5 cm (10–13 mm / 6–9 mm with 4–5 mm lobes) | 1.2–1.6 cm (4–8 mm / 6–8 mm with ca. 3 mm long lobes) |
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ca. 5 mm with 1.2 mm tail | ca. 8 mm with ca. 1.5 mm tail | ca. 6.5 mm with ca. 1.8 mm tail |
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3.5–4.5 × 1.5–2.0 mm | 5–6 mm | 4–5 mm |
The typical quadripartite structure of the newly sequenced plastome has size of 152,355 bp (37.7% GC content) consisting of a large single copy (
Complete chloroplast genome sequence-based phylogenomic tree inferred from Maximum Likelihood (
1 | Leaf blades oblong to narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, base decurrent; phyllaries 4 to 6 rows, sparsely tomentose, outer phyllaries narrowly triangular or ovate-triangular |
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– | Leaf blades lanceolate, chartaceous, base attenuate; phyllaries in 4(5) rows, densely tomentose, outer phyllaries ovate-elliptic |
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2 | Stem diameter < 1 cm; leaf margin green; capitula usually 1 rarely 2; receptacle bristles 6–8 mm long; corolla tube 10–13 mm and limb 6–9 mm including 4–5 mm lobes; anthers ~8 mm with 1.5 mm tails |
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– | Stem diameter > 1.3 cm; leaf margin purple; capitula 1 or 3; receptacle bristles ~4 mm long; corolla tube 5–7 mm and limb 4–6 mm including 1.5–2.2 mm lobes; anthers ~5 mm with 1.2 mm tails |
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We have conducted botanical expedition in Humla district in reference to the long-term biodiversity conservation and monitoring program of Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative, implemented by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal. Authors are thankful to Department of Plant Resources (DPR), Kathmandu, Nepal, Division Forest Office, Humla, Nepal and Department of Forest, Kathmandu, Nepal for research permission. The field expedition was financially supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Kathmandu, Nepal and ICIMOD. The laboratory and molecular works were financially supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) programme (2019QZKK0502). The authors acknowledge Alexander Robert O’Neill (USA) for valuable inputs and English language editing, and to Asha Poudel, Smriti Lo, Chhabi Thapa, Prem Subedi, Rabi Rokaya and Shyamjor Lama for the help during field expedition.