Abstract
The new genus and species Pulvinatusiaxuegulaensis (Brassicaceae) are described and illustrated. The species is a cushion plant collected from Xuegu La, Xizang, China. Its vegetative parts are most similar to those of Arenariabryophylla (Caryophyllaceae) co-occurring in the same region, while its leaves and fruits closely resemble those of Xerodrabapatagonica (Brassicaceae) from Patagonian Argentina and Chile. Family-level phylogenetic analyses based on both nuclear ITS and plastome revealed that it is a member of the tribe Crucihimalayeae, but the infra-/intergeneric relationships within the tribe are yet to be resolved.
Highlights
Cushion plants represent a special life form which usually has character combinations such as short-node intervals, compact branches, solitary flowers or few-flowered racemes, and dome- or mat-shaped cushions
Its leaves are linear-lanceolate and imbricate (Fig. 2I-K), and its fruits are ovoid silicles with stout fruit pedicles (Fig. 2C-F). These character combinations were not seen in any other Brassicaceae taxa occurring in China, suggesting it might represent a new species
Most of the 16 newly sequenced plastomes were assembled into complete circular genome, except one or two gaps remained in the noncoding regions of three accessions
Summary
Cushion plants represent a special life form which usually has character combinations such as short-node intervals, compact branches, solitary flowers or few-flowered racemes, and dome- or mat-shaped cushions. Hauri and Schröter (1914) compiled the first worldwide list of cushion plants which included 338 species of 34 families and 78 genera. A century later, Aubert et al (2014) updated the cushion plants catalogue in which they recognized 1,309 species of 63 families and 273 genera. An online database was created for easy access and timely update (http://www.cushionplants.eu/)
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