Corresponding authors: Guang-Wan Hu (
Academic editor: Dmitry Geltman
Wei N, Mutie FM, Mwachala G, Grace OM, Hu G-W, Wang Q-F (2021)
Besides emphasizing leaf and cyme-branching characters,
In a field investigation targeting Kenyan
The morphological description of the new species is based on measurements on living specimens collected during the field trips, except for the seeds which were obtained by observations of specimens in herbaria. Comparisons with other relevant
To delineate the phylogenetic placement of our
Sources of DNA were silica-dried leaves collected from field trips, or from dried voucher specimens in herbaria. Total genomic DNA was extracted with the MagicMag Genomic DNA Micro Kit (Sangon Biotech Co., Shanghai, China) following the instructions of the manufacturer’s protocol. DNA quality was assessed by 1% agarose gel electrophoresis. Short inserts (350 bp) were used to construct paired-end 150-bp sequencing libraries using the NEBNext Ultra DNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina (
Raw sequences were quality filtered using software Trimmomatic v.0.33 (
The complete
The 17 complete
Morphologically,
Characters distinguishing
Character |
|
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Habit | Shrub to 4 m | Shrubby tree to 9 m | Shrubby tree to 7 m |
Leaf apex and margin | Apex rounded to obtuse, margin slightly undulate, crenate | Apex rounded to obtuse, margin serrate | Apex abruptly acute, margin entire, or minutely toothed |
Lamina surface | Densely pubescent on adaxial surface, abaxial surfaces with densely stellate hairs, occasionally tinged purplish | Densely pubescent on both sides, abaxial surfaces without flecks | Glabrous, abaxial surfaces flecked or tinged purplish |
Inflorescence | In pseudo-umbels of 2–5 cymes; cymes 2–4-forked | In pseudo-umbels of 3–5 cymes; cymes 1–2-forked | In pseudo-umbels of up to 6 cymes; cymes 2–3-forked |
Bract | Ca. 2.5 × 3.0 mm, dentate | Ca. 3.5 × 3.5 mm, entire or with a few teeth | Ca. 3.0 × 3.5 mm, obscurely dentate |
Cyathium | Ca. 6 mm wide | Ca. 8 mm wide | Ca. 7 mm wide |
Gland | Deeply furrowed and wrinkled, crimson | Distinctly grooved, with a very narrow smooth margin, crimson to light red | Shallowly and minutely grooved, yellow to greenish red |
Female flower | Styles ca. 2.0 mm long, connate at the base | Styles ca. 1.5 mm. long, connate at the base | Styles ca. 1.8 mm. long, connate to ± halfway |
Capsule | To 8 × 7 mm | To 10 × 10 mm | To 8 × 7 mm |
Seed | Ovoid, ca. 1.8 × 2.2 mm | Subglobose, ca. 2.5 × 2.5 mm | Ovoid, ca. 2.8 × 2.5 mm |
We show the monophyly of the previously segregated genus
Kenya. Makueni County, Mbuinzau,
Many-branched shrub to 4 m high. Branches cylindrical, fleshy, and marked with prominent elliptic leaf scars.
Morphological features of
Only one population of the new species was found at the foot of Mbuinzau hill, Makueni County, Kenya (Figure
Known distribution of
Only one population of the new species was found in an isolated woodland covered by lava outcrops (Figure
The epithet “
The conspicuous latex is extremely poisonous to cattle as well as human beings, according to the comments from local farmers. We observed ants visiting the flowers and they are a possible pollinator to this species (Figure
KENYA. Makueni County, Mbuinzau,
We thank Leonard E. Newton and Susan Carter for their valuable comments and suggestions. We also thank Paul Rees, Imalka Kahandawala, and Zhengwei Wang for their help in collecting material for DNA extraction. Gratitude is extended to Mrs. Nan Jia for her beautiful line drawings of the new species; Mrs. Lunlun Gao from Huazhong Agricultural University for preparing the distribution map; and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for issuing fieldwork permits (permit number: RESEA/1/KFS 98 and RESEA/1/KFS 22) to conduct the field investigations. We would also like to thank the following herbaria AMD, BR, BM, EA, HIB, K, P, S, and WAG for hosting our visits or providing images of digitized specimens in this study. We are grateful to Dr. Dmitry Geltman for his significant editorial work, Dr. Kenneth J. Wurdack and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, CAS, China [grant numbers SAJC202101], International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences [grant numbers 151853KYSB20190027], the National Science Foundation of China [grant number 31970211 and 32070231] and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Joint PhD Training Program.
Table S1
docx. file
Accessions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (
File 2
docx. file
The trimmed alignment of the 17 complete nuclear ribosomal DNA (