Relictithismia kimotsukiensis, a new genus and species of Thismiaceae from southern Japan with discussions on its phylogenetic relationship.

ABSTRACT: The family Thismiaceae, known as "fairy lanterns" for their urn- or bell-shaped flowers with basally fused tepals, consists of non-photosynthetic flowering monocots mainly in tropical regions, extending into subtropical and temperate areas. Here, we propose a new mycoheterotrophic genus, Relictithismia Suetsugu & Tagane (Thismiaceae), with its monotypic species Relictithismia kimotsukiensis Suetsugu, Yas.Nakam. & Tagane from Kimotsuki Mountains in the Osumi Peninsula, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu Island, southern Japan. Relictithismia resembles Haplothismia Airy Shaw in having a cluster of tuberous roots, a feature previously observed only in this genus within the family Thismiaceae. However, it differs in having solitary flowers (vs. 2-6-flowered pseudo-raceme in Haplothismia), anther the

SUBMITTER: Suetsugu K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11082003 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature