Abstract
Bredia hispida (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae), a species occurring in southeastern Sichuan, China, is newly described based on morphological and molecular data. The generic placement of B. hispida is well supported by phylogenetic analysis and morphological characters, including basally cordate, hairy leaf blade, cymose inflorescence, basally gibbous anthers and enlarged ovary crown enclosing an inverted frustum-shaped depression. Both molecular and morphological divergence showed that B. hispida is well separated from its close relatives, justifying its recognition as a distinct species. The new species resembles B. repens, B. changii and B. guidongensis in the prostrate habit and isomorphic stamens but differs markedly in the unequal opposed leaves, the 2–4 mm long, stout bristles on the adaxial surface of leaf blade and acuminate leaf apex. Bredia hispida co-occurs with B. esquirolii in the wild. No morphologically putative hybrids between them were observed despite their overlap in flowering season. The isolating mechanism remains unclear, pending further investigation.
Highlights
Bredia Blume was originally established based on B. hirsuta Blume, a species endemic to Taiwan and the Ryukyu islands (Blume 1849)
Pairwise genetic distances among B. hispida and 23 species of Bredia are provided in Supplementary material 3
Our phylogenetic analyses with complete taxon sampling of Bredia confirmed that B. hispida is a member of this clade
Summary
Bredia Blume was originally established based on B. hirsuta Blume, a species endemic to Taiwan and the Ryukyu islands (Blume 1849). Circumscription of this genus had long been controversial. Bredia was redefined as excluding Tashiroea while incorporating seven species previously treated in Phyllagathis (Zhou et al 2019b). Together with two recently published species, Bredia as currently circumscribed includes 23 species distributed from central and southern mainland China, Taiwan, to the Ryukyu islands and northern Vietnam (Zhou et al 2019b; Wen et al 2019; He et al in press). Species of Bredia are characterized by the leaf blade papery, usually hairy, inflorescences cymose, umbellate, or a cymose panicle, anther basally gibbose or tuberculate, and ovary crown persistent and enlarged enclosing an inverted frustum-shaped depression
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