A new species of Phyllagathis (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae) from Guangxi, China

Abstract

Phyllagathis elegans (Melastomataceae, Sonerileae), a new species from Dongxing County in southern Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. It closely resembles P. ovalifolia in habit, inflorescence type, floral merosity, stamen and capsule morphology, and crystal form, but differs from the latter in the hirsute stem with crooked hairs (vs. retrorse hairs), distally densely (vs. sparsely) leafy branches, and leaf blades 3-veined (vs. 5–7-veined), oblanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate (vs. ovate, oblong-ovate, or broadly elliptic).