Research Article |
Corresponding author: Saroj Ruchisansakun ( s.ruchisansakun@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Yasen Mutafchiev
© 2019 Saroj Ruchisansakun, Piyakaset Suksathan.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Ruchisansakun S, Suksathan P (2019) Impatiens jenjittikuliae (Balsaminaceae), a new species from Thailand. PhytoKeys 124: 139-147. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.124.33607
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Impatiens jenjittikuliae Ruchis. & Suksathan, a new species from a limestone area in Thasongyang District, Tak Province, Northern Thailand, is described and illustrated. This endemic new species is distinguished from the most similar, I. lacei Hook.f. through having pilose lateral sepals vs glabrous, and by the absence of long hairs along the lamina margin. Its pollen and seed morphology, stem anatomy, and pollination ecology are also observed. Furthermore, its conservation status as Critically Endangered is also assessed.
Uniflorae, lithophytic, endemic, critically endangered
Balsaminaceae
consists of Hydrocera Blume ex Wight & Arnott (1834: 140) with only a single species, H. triflora (L.) Wight & Arnott (1834: 140), and Impatiens L. (1753: 937), comprising over 1,000 species (
In Thailand, sixty-one native Impatiens species have been enumerated in previous works (
Fieldwork was conducted in October 2018. The plants were prepared for making herbarium specimens. Each part of the flower was separately glued on the hard paper and dried separately. All parts were measured and described in line with terminology in
Impatiens jenjittikuliae is most similar to I. lacei Hook.f. It differs from I. lacei by its densely pilose lateral sepal (versus glabrous) and by having no long hairs along its lamina margin (versus distinct long hairs especially along the lower-half of leaf margin).
THAILAND. Tak Province, Thasongyang District [17°30'1"N, 98°3'60"E], limestone area near waterfall in mixed deciduous forest at 540 m alt., 20 October 2018, S. Ruchisansakun 900 (holotype: QBG; isotypes: BK, BKF, Mahidol University Herbarium)
Lithophytic, annual herb, up to 6–30 cm tall. Stem erect, up to 1.2 cm in diam., cylindrical, branched, green, densely pilose with short white hairs. Leaves spirally arranged. Petiole 3–7.5 cm long, ca. 2.5 mm in diam., pale green to green to pink, pilose; with 5–7 pairs of long hairs on petiole, up to 2 mm long, green, sometime with red tips. Lamina 9–20 × 3–7 cm, ovate to elliptic, apex acute, base cuneate, margin shallowly serrate, adaxial green, abaxial pale green, pilose on both sides; lateral veins 10–12 pairs. Inflorescence raceme, axillary, 8–12 florets; peduncle 7–10 mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diam., pale green, densely pilose; rachis 8–20 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., pale green, densely pilose, hairs shorter than those on peduncle. Flowers ca. 20 × ca. 15 mm, ca 3 mm deep, pinkish white with reddish purple lip. Bracts ca. 1 × 0.5 mm, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute, base cuneate, green, caducous, abaxial densely pilose with white hairs. Pedicel 12–15 mm long, less than 1 mm in diam., pink, densely pilose with white hairs. Lateral sepals 2, 5–6 × 6–7 mm, free, broadly ovate, the apex mucronate, the base truncate, pale pink, abaxially densely pilose with white hairs. Lower sepal 11–13 × 8–10 mm, ca. 14–17 mm deep, broadly navicular to subsaccate, apex acuminate and mucronate, white with green tip, densely pilose to strigose outside with long white hairs, distal part gradually constricted into a curved spur, 14–15 mm long, white to pale pink. Dorsal petal 11–12 × 14–15 mm, broadly ovate to obcordate, cucullate, apex emarginate and mucronate, base cordate, white to pale pink, densely pilose with white hairs, abaxial midvein with a white crescent-shaped crest, 1–1.5 mm high. Lateral united petals 20–24 mm long, free: the upper petals 9–10 × 10–11 mm, broadly oblong, apex truncate, base cuneate, upper outer part white to pale pink, lower inner part dark purple; the lower petals 17–19 × 8–10 mm, oblong, apex truncate, pink to reddish-purple; with a pink auricle at the base, ca 1 mm high. Stamens 5; filaments 4–5 mm long, white; anthers white. Ovary ca 4 mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diam., short fusiform, 5-carpellate, green, glabrous. Fruits, short fusiform capsule, 11–12 mm long, 6–8 mm in diam., subglobose, 5–lobed, green, glabrous. Seeds ca. 20 per fruit, ca. 1.34 mm long, ovoid, brown.
Pollen morphology
: Pollen grains 4-colpate (Fig.
Seed morphology
: Brown ovoid, ca 1.34 × 0.93 mm, ca 0.51 μm thick (length/width = 1.44) (Fig.
Stem anatomy
: Stem herbaceous, without lignification (Figs
Flowering from Oct. to Nov.; fruiting Oct. from Nov.
The new species is only known from the type locality in Tak Province, Thailand.
Impatiens jenjittikuliae grows on limestone close to waterfall in a mixed deciduous forest, 520–600 m elevation (pers. obs.).
Critically Endangered B1ab (i, ii, iii) + 2ab (i, ii, iii). This species is only known from the type locality; the extent of occurrence is estimated to be less than 5 km, where it occurs as a small population (
The new species is named in honor of Dr. Thaya Jenjittikul who encouraged the first author to step in and study this lovely plant family.
The author observed five visitations by bees from the family Apidae (identified by an entomologist, Pornpimon Tangtorwongsakul) during the expeditions. The size of bee body fit well with the floral entrance (Fig.
Impatiens jenjittikuliae is similar to I. lacei and the other species closely related to I. pulchra Hook.f (= I. mengtszeana Hook.f. in
The cross sections of the stem of I. jenjittikuliae have shown that the new species is herbaceous, similar to the morphologically similar species in the sect. Uniflorae, I. pulchra, which also show in
We would like to thank Frederic Lens, Larissa Chacon-Doria, Pantamith Ratanakrajang, Pornpimon Tangtorwongsakul, and Weerayuth Laohajinda, for their help with different parts of this work.