Flora of Bokor National Park VII: Thismia bokorensis (Burmanniaceae), a new species representing a new generic record

Abstract

The genus Thismia Griffith (1844: 221) of the tribe Thismieae, Burmanniaceae sensu APG IV (2016) or Thismiaceae of other authors, represents one of the most species-rich mycoheterotrophic genera and consists of more than 60 species (Jonker 1948, Merckx 2008). Considering that the majority of these species were collected only once (Jonker 1948), and that many new species have recently been discovered, especially from various Southeast Asian countries (e.g., Tsukaya & Okada 2012, Dančák et al. 2013, Nuraliev et al. 2014, 2015, Truong et al. 2014, Chantanaorrapint & Sridith 2015, Li & Bi 2013, Hroneš et al. 2015, Tsukaya et al. 2017, Suetsugu et al. 2017), many more undescribed species are probably still hidden in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia.

Rediscovery of Thismia neptunis (Thismiaceae) after 151 years

“…This group comprises nine species (Kumar et al 2017, Suetsugu et al 2018) of very diverse morphology as for symmetry of perianth, modification of perianth lobes and structure of connectives. Half of the species are, nevertheless, only poorly documented.…”

“…Although the genus in the taxonomic sense exists since 1844, many species or populations have been being discovered only in the last decade. For instance, out of total of ca 76 species, 30 have been described since 2011 (Hunt et al 2014, Chantanaorrapint et al 2016, Cowie & Liddle 2016, Cooper 2017, Kumar et al 2017, Sochor et al 2017, Sujanapal et al 2017, Chantanaorrapint & Suddee 2018, Hroneš et al 2018, Suetsugu et al 2018, Sochor et al 2018 and several others (ca >10) await formal description. The real diversity of fairy lanterns is therefore being uncovered only recently.…”

Ombrohydrochory in Thismia panamensis (Standley) Jonk: a mycoheterotrophic species in Brazilian Cerrado forests

“…They are inconspicuous plants, typically found in humid parts of forest environments and observed most easily during the reproductive stage. Therefore, records of occurrence, identification and taxonomy are still scarce (Mar & Saunders, 2015), although many descriptions or new distributions of the Thismiaceae family have been reported in recent years (Tsukaya & Okada 2005; Chantanaorrapint & Sridith 2007; Larsen & Averyanov 2007; Chantanaorrapint 2008; Ho et al 2009; Mar & Saunders 2015; Dančák et al 2018; Suetsugu et al 2018; Dančák et al 2020; Silva et al 2020). This has increased, by more than three‐fold, the known diversity of the group in the last decade.…”

Thismia kobensis (Burmanniaceae), a new and presumably extinct species from Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

“…Considering that most of these species were collected only once (Jonker 1948) and that many new species have recently been discovered in various Asian countries (e.g. Suetsugu et al 2017Suetsugu et al , 2018, many more undescribed species are likely in these regions.…”