Thismia belumensis (Thismiaceae), a remarkable new species from The Royal Belum State Park, Gerik, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

This report describes Thismia belumensis Siti-Munirah & Suhaimi-Miloko, a novel species of achlorophyllous herb discovered in the Royal Belum State Park, Peninsular Malaysia. This new species is unlike any previously described species of Thismia. In particular, T. belumensis possesses a unique annulus, which has been expanded and modified into a cucullate (hood-like) structure. This structure covers the apical floral tube and has an opening on one side facing a thickened part of the annulus, and the off-centre floral aperture confers a zygomorphic symmetry to the flower, indicating T. belumensis is more similar to Thismia labiata J.J.Sm. This morphological detail makes this new species distinct from all other described species of Thismia. In this report, we provide descriptions, illustrations, colour plates, and the provisional conservation status of Thismia belumensis.

Thismia guangdongensis (Thismiaceae), a new mycoheterotrophic species from China

“…Brunonithismia may not be monophyletic with several species of this subsection having unstable phylogenetic positions inferred by different DNA sequences (Merckx and Smets 2014, Sochor et al 2018a, Dančák et al 2020b, Shepeleva et al 2020, Yudina et al 2021, Thismia guangdongensis is here temporarily assigned to Thismia subsect. Brunonithismia based on its free tepals distinctly dissimilar in shape and size between the inner and outer whorls of tepals and the outer tepals without appendage, similar to those of all other species in the subsection (Jonker 1938, Kumar et al 2017, Tanaka et al 2018, Suetsugu et al 2018, Siti-Munirah et al 2021.…”

Thismia panamensis (Standl.) Jonker (Thismiaceae): first record for southern Brazil

“…Thismia Griff. (Thismiaceae) is a pantropical genus of mycoheterotrophic herbs with approximately 90 species (Sahut and Tosak 2021;Siti-Munirah et al 2021). It is particularly species-rich in Southeast Asia, where a great number of new species been recently described (Yunoh and Nikong 2019;Dančák et al 2020aDančák et al , 2020bSilva et al 2020;Shepeleva et al 2020;Xu et al 2020;Sahut and Tosak 2021;Siti-Munirah et al 2021).…”

“…(Thismiaceae) is a pantropical genus of mycoheterotrophic herbs with approximately 90 species (Sahut and Tosak 2021;Siti-Munirah et al 2021). It is particularly species-rich in Southeast Asia, where a great number of new species been recently described (Yunoh and Nikong 2019;Dančák et al 2020aDančák et al , 2020bSilva et al 2020;Shepeleva et al 2020;Xu et al 2020;Sahut and Tosak 2021;Siti-Munirah et al 2021). In the Neotropics, its center of diversity is the Atlantic Rainforest, which harbors the majority of American Thismia (9 out of 14 species) (Maas et al 1986;Mancinelli et al 2012;Voloschen et al 2013;Silva et al 2020).…”

Fairy lanterns in focus

“…The morphologies of these new species are particularly diverse. Examples of recent discoveries from deep in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia include: T. belumensis (Figure 1a,b), which possesses a uniquely expanded annulus that is modified into a unique, hood‐like structure (Siti‐Munirah et al, 2021); T. kelantanensis (Figure 1c), which has a mitre with a distinct warty appendage, 6‐partite hood, and bi‐colored corolla (Siti‐Munirah, 2018), and T. domei (Figure 1d), which is characterized by its erect, inwardly‐curved perianth lobes and loose mitre (Siti‐Munirah & Dome, 2019). Only this year, we described a new species, T. sitimeriamae , which is found along a popular tourist trail in Peninsular Malaysia and has hitherto gone unnoticed (Siti‐Munirah et al, in press).…”