A Contribution to the Study of the Genus Diplycosia (Ericaceae) in Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

New taxa and records of Diplycosia (Ericaceae) from recent expeditions to Sulawesi are described. Diplycosia balgooyi Argent, D. gallowayana Argent, D. glaucicaulis Argent, D. hendriana Argent and D. supyanii Argent are described as new species. Diplycosia minutiflora Sleumer var. glandulifera Argent is described as a new variety and the new combination D. capitata Sleumer var. crassiramea (Sleumer) Argent is made. A key to all the known species of Diplycosia from this island is provided, together with short descriptions of the previously described species.

Diplycosia platyphylla (Ericaceae), a new species from Mindanao, Philippines

“…Macromorphological characters derived from both the specimens and photographic images of the living material were compared with those from the relevant literature sources (Sleumer 1967; Argent 1982, 1989, 2002, 2013, 2014; Ferreras and Argent 2011), specimens that are available at BRIT, CAS, and E, and online type images accessed from JSTOR Global Plants (https://plants.jstor.org/). We focused in particular on the characters used for the most recent key to Philippine Diplycosia in Argent (2013).…”

“…Diplycosia Blume (Ericaceae: Vaccinioideae: Gaultherieae) comprises about 116 species distributed throughout Southeast Asia and New Guinea (Sleumer 1967; Argent 1982, 1989, 2002; Ferreras and Argent 2011; Argent 2013, 2014; Fritsch and Amoroso in press; Fritsch and Bush in press). The genus can be delimited from other genera of the tribe by a base chromosome number of x = 18 (vs 11), and a combination of (usually) entire leaf margins, fasciculate inflorescences, paired bracteoles borne at the apex of the pedicel, anthers with terminal tubules but with neither spurs nor disintegration tissue, and a capsule surrounded by an accrescent, fleshy calyx, or rarely a berry.…”

Ericaceae of Sulawesi: A new species of Diplycosia, a new variety of Vaccinium paludicolum and one rediscovery

“…Unlike Rhododendron, Diplycosia, which consists of about 120 species and almost confined to the Malesian region (Argent 2014, Sleumer 1967, is a poorly known genus of Ericaceae (Conlon 2015). This is because many of the plants are epiphytic in habit and small, especially the flowers, which allows the plants to be easily overlooked (Argent and Widjaja 2015).…”

“…At least 758 species from this family have been recorded from Malesian region (Sleumer 1964(Sleumer , 1967. The literature suggests that most of them are endemic, either to Malesia, a single island or even a single mountain (Sleumer 1967;Argent 2014Argent , 2015Conlon 2015).…”

“…Sulawesi is the largest island in Wallacea and is home for many endemic species of Ericaceae and, for the family, is the third richest flora after Borneo and New Guinea (Argent 2015;Sleumer 1967). Eight species from this family have been described from the island in the last ten years (Argent 2009(Argent , 2014Argent and Widjaja 2015;Argent and Mambrasar 2019). In this paper a new species and a new variety are added to the Ericaceae based on materials collected from a recent visit to the central part of the island.…”