Independent evolution of pouched flowers in the Am

Authors: Gabriel E Ferreira Alain Chautems Michael J G Hopkins Mathieu Perret

Publish Date: 2016/06/14

Volume: 302, Issue: 8, Pages: 1109-1119

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Abstract

We describe and illustrate Lesia tepuiensis a new species of subshrub from rock outcrops of the Serra do Aracá tepui in Amazonas Brazil Phylogenetic analyses based on 7219aligned base pairs of the plastid and nuclear DNA sequences recovered the new species as sister to Lesia savannarum the type species of Lesia a genus recently described as monotypic The new species is readily distinguished from L savannarum by having a red pouched corolla tube lanceolate calyx lobes a hirsute to tomentose leaf indument and a rupicolous habit Phylogenetic analyses of the relationships of Lesia with other genera in the subtribe Columneinae indicated that Lesia and Codonanthopsis form a monophyletic group sister to a clade endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic forest formed by Nematanthus and Codonanthe The pouched corolla tube found in the genera Lesia and Nematanthus appears to have evolved independently in these two lineages Ecological and distributional data as well as a key to the species of Lesia and related genera are also providedWe thank Régine Niba for her contribution to the laboratory work Charles Zartman Helder Vechi Fernanda Cabral Marta Pereira and Susana Costa for their help during field expeditions and Marcos Melo for drawing the illustration Pictures of L savannarum were kindly provided by John L Clark This study was funded by an Elvin McDonald Research Grant and a Nellie D Sleeth Scholarship from The Gesneriad Society and the IAPT Research Grant Program in Plant Systematics The first author thanks the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPq of BrazilFirst author was funded by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPq at the Instituto de Pesquisas da Amazônia INPA the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorCAPES Ciência sem Fronteiras the Elvin McDonald Research Endowment Fund and the Nellie D Sleeth Scholarship Endowment Fund from The Gesneriad Society and the IAPT Research Grant Program in Plant Systematics Laboratory work was performed at the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva

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