Ophiorrhiza macrocarpa (Rubiaceae), a new viviparous species from Yunnan, southwestern China

Abstract

Ophiorrhiza macrocarpa, a new species of Rubiaceae is described and illustrated from China. It was previously misidentified as O. wallichii in Chinese herbaria and literature, a species originally described from India. Detailed descriptions, distribution, ecological data and colour photographs of the new species are provided. Ophiorrhiza macrocarpa is the third viviparous species in Ophiorrhiza.

Typification and novelties in Rubiaceae for the flora of Vietnam

“…Ophiorrhiza L. is a genus of mostly herbaceous plants, comprising 200-300 species worldwide and distributed mainly in moist tropical forests from East India to the Western Pacific and from South China to Northern Australia. (Wu et al, 2018). In Vietnam, they are represented by 14 species (Ho, 2003;Tran, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2020).…”

A discussion of the relationship between Ophiorrhiza exigua and O. michelloides (Rubiaceae) with the description of a new species

“…Ophiorrhiza L. is a member of tribe Ophiorrhizeae in subfamily Rubioideae of the family Rubiaceae (Bremer and Manen 2000) and is one of the most taxonomically complicated genera in the family comprising more than 300 species worldwide (Chen and Taylor 2011). The genus is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia with a few representatives spreading to Australia, New Guinea and Pacific Islands (Darwin 1976, Chen and Taylor 2011, Wu et al 2018. The plants of the genus often grow in wet places, like streamside.…”

“…In contrast, it is very difficult to identify the species within the genus because of the wide distribution and complex variation. In China, about 70 species of Ophiorrhiza have been recorded and they are mostly distributed in southern and southwestern China, especially in Yunnan and Guangxi (Chen and Taylor 2011, Wu et al 2017a, b2017b, c2017c, 2018, Tu et al 2018, Duan et al 2019, Wen et al 2019).…”

Two new endemic species of Ophiorrhiza L. (Rubiaceae: Ophiorrhizeae) from Davao Oriental, Philippines

“…Ophiorrhiza L. is the fifth largest genus in Rubiaceae, comprising around 320 species distributed in tropical to subtropical Asia, China and the Pacific, and with its greatest diversity in New Guinea and southeastern Asia (Davis et al 2009, Hareesh 2017, Hareesh and Sabu 2018, Wu et al 2019). Members of Ophiorrhiza are annual to perennial suffrutescent herbs to small shrubs ranging from 3 cm to 1 m tall, with cymose inflorescences, and laterally flattened, dry, papery and loculicidally dehiscent capsules that are broadly obcordate (Lo 1990, Deb and Mondal 1997, Chen and Taylor 2011, Hareesh 2017, Wu et al 2018). Taxonomic studies and enumerations of Ophiorrhiza have been widely conducted in some geographic regions such as Australia (Halford 1991), China (Lo 1990, Chen and Taylor 2011), India (Deb and Mondal 1997, Hareesh and Sabu 2018) and the Pacific (Darwin 1976) but are still wanting in the floristic region of southeast Asia, specifically in the Philippines.…”

“…In the recent floristic surveys conducted in southern Philippines, two enigmatic Ophiorrhiza species were collected in Mt Hamiguitan, Davao Oriental, Mindanao. Detailed morphological examination and comparison of the species to the relevant literature and available herbarium specimens (Darwin 1976, Lo 1990, Halford 1991, Deb and Mondal 1997, Shanzer 2005, Chen and Taylor 2011, Hareesh et al 2015a, b2015b, 2017, Wu et al 2018, 2019) revealed that the two species are divergent and new to science. Hence, two new endemic Philippine Ophiorrhiza species are hereby described and illustrated.…”