Loxocarpus pauzii ( Gesneriaceae ) , a new species from Peninsular Malaysia

A new species of Loxocarpus (Gesneriaceae) from Gunung Stong, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia, is described and illustrated.


RESEARCH ARTICLE InTRoduCTIon
A Loxocarpus R.Br.(Gesneriaceae) was discovered during a botanical expedition to the Gunung Tera area, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia, in February 2007 (Chew et al. 2007).The plant was growing on the wet, dripping surface of a large granite boulder beside the Stong Waterfall.Although sterile, its leaves were so different from any known Loxocarpus species that living plants were collected and grown in the Kepong Botanic Garden nursery, Forest Research Institute Malaysia.On flowering, unique characters of its flower confirmed its status as a new species.Subsequently, flowering and fruiting material was collected from the wild.
Based on a combination of its rosette habit, the indumentum of densely silvery hairs, and the short capsule, the new species is placed within Loxocarpus.
The new species is distinct from all other Loxocarpus species by a combination of its thick fleshy leaves with long petioles, its slender much-branched, many-flowered inflorescences, its small flowers with a deeply divided, four-lobed pointed corolla, the vestigial nectary, and the style that projects well beyond the corolla mouth.
Although Weber & Burtt (1998) included Loxocarpus as a synonym of Henckelia Spreng.(Gesneriaceae), molecular analyses (Weber et al. 2011) show that Loxocarpus species are distinct from Henckelia.Thus, this species is named in reinstated Loxocarpus.Etymology.This species is named after Pauzi Husin (1976 -2011), a nature guide who first discovered it.

Loxocarpus pauzii
Rosette plant.Rootstock short, woody, to 3 cm long, 5 mm diam, with wiry adventitious roots.Indumentum of stem and leaves silvery when dry, mainly of straight uniseriate, multicellular silky non-glandular hairs: on rootstock dense, 1-1.5 mm long, on the petiole very dense, 1-2 mm long, on the upper surface of the lamina dense, c. 0.85 mm long, on the veins of the lower surface of the lamina less dense, 0.4-0.85mm long, on the lower surface of the lamina sparse, c. 0.3 mm long, on the bracts and bracteoles dense, 0.3 mm long; indumentum of inflorescences and flowers a mix of non-glandular and glandular hairs: on the peduncle with dense, non-glandular hairs c. 1 mm long and glandular hairs c. 0.25 mm long; on the pedicel, the outer surface of the calyx, corolla, and ovary with dense, glandular purple hairs c. 0.25 mm long, turning brown with age.Leaves alternate, crowded; petioles in life pale green, slender, the uppermost ones 2-3 cm long, the lowermost ones elongating to 5-11 cm long, terete, c. 1 mm diam; laminas in life dull dark green to greyish green above, paler beneath and concolourous with the petiole, suborbicular to reniform, 1.5-3 by 2-3 cm, c. 0.6 mm thick, base cordate to truncate, margin crenulate, apex acute in young leaves becoming rounded in fully expanded ones; secondary veins 4-5 pairs, sunken above, prominent beneath.Inflorescences axillary, many-flowered paniculate cymes up to 4-times branched with 11-42 flowers, young peduncle brownish red becoming purplish, slender, 14-18 cm long, to 2 mm thick; bract pair green, narrowly oblanceolate, c. 1.4 by 0.3 mm, apex rounded; bracteoles single or paired, green, narrowly oblanceolate, apex rounded, c. 0.6 by 0.2 mm, pedicels purple, 5-7 mm long.Flowers: calyx light green, 5-lobed, divided to the base, lobes c. 2 by 1 mm, surface of the inner lobe with three darker coloured veins; corolla plain lilac, tube very short, c. 2 mm long, limb deeply divided, lobes 4, darker toward the base, upper lobe deltoid, c. 3 by 3 mm, apex scarcely notched, lateral 2 lobes spreading, narrowly ovate, c. 4 by 2 mm, apex narrowly rounded, lower lobe longest, concave, margin incurved, c. 5 by 2.5 mm; stamens 2, positioned below the pistil, filaments curved, white tinged light green near base, pale lilac above, c. 2 mm long, bowed towards the lower corolla lobe; anthers connate face-to-face, bilobed, partly exposed in the corolla mouth, yellow, c. 1.3 by 0.5 mm; nectary a narrow, thin rim, partly encircling the ovary Note -All other Loxocarpus species have a 5-lobed corolla.The deeply divided 4-lobed corolla of this species is the result of fusion of the upper two lobes.