Somran Suddee

Studies in Asian Nervilia (Orchidaceae) III: N. khaoyaica, a new species from eastern Thailand

SummaryA new one-flowered species of Nervilia is described and illustrated from plants collected in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, eastern Thailand. The glabrous, angular leaf of Nervilia khaoyaica Suddee, Watthana & S. W. Gale affiliates it to the taxonomically difficult and widespread Nervilia adolphi – punctata species alliance of Section Linervia, but it is otherwise readily distinguished by its broad, oblong-obovate lip with a saccate base and obscure, rounded side lobes below the middle, and by the striking colouration of the disk.

Sophora huamotensis, a new species of Sophora (Fabaceae-Papilionoideae-Sophoreae) from Thailand

Sophora huamotensis Mattapha, Suddee & Rueangr. is illustrated and described here. This new species is recognised by having numerous leaflets, articulated pedicels and the wing petals with lunate sculpturing on the outer surface and without auricles at the base. The morphological characters of the species are compared and discussed with its closest species. Description, illustration, images and a distribution map of the new species are provided.

Integrative analyses of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) section Linervia reveal further undescribed cryptic diversity in Thailand

The delimitation of cryptic species is necessary to accurately classify and appropriately conserve biodiversity. Integrative analyses can be incisive in detecting and circumscribing cryptic diversity, especially in species complexes whose members are delineated by minor or overlapping morphological variation. We adopt an integrative approach to assess species relationships and resolve species boundaries in the taxonomically difficult Nervilia adolphi/punctata species alliance of N. sect. Linervia, an Old World complex of reduced, one-flowered terrestrial orchids that is both species-rich and poorly known in tropical and warm temperate Asia. We sampled 12 of the 27 known species of the alliance in Asia, including all four species reported from Thailand and a further 20 plants collected in that country that could not be satisfactorily identified using morphology alone. Phylogenetic analyses using one nuclear (ITS) and two plastid (matK and trnL-F) markers confirmed both N. sect. Linervia and the alliance itself as monophyletic, and corroborated 11 of the 12 sampled species; N. punctata proved polyphyletic, with the Thai samples referred to this Indonesian species falling sister to the Himalayan N. mackinnonii. The 20 unidentified Thai samples formed three distinct, strongly supported clades. STACEY, a Bayesian coalescence approach to species delimitation, resolved the same three clusters, but provided evidence suggesting that one comprised two distinct sub-clades. Building on this genetic evidence, we identify subtle morphological differences and invoke a diagnosable species concept to circumscribe three previously unrecognized cryptic species from Thailand. This objective approach to species delimitation validates ostensibly minor morphological differences as a basis for differentiating species within the alliance, paving the way for a global analysis of species boundaries throughout the genus as a whole.

Notes on the genus Ormosia (Fabaceae-Sophoreae) in Thailand

Ormosia mekongensis Mattapha, Suddee & Rueangr. is described as a new species and illustrated. Its conservation status is assessed and its distribution is mapped. Three other species, Ormosia grandistipulata Whitmore, O. penangensis Ridl. and O. venosa Baker, are updated for the generic account for the Flora of Thailand: the first could now be fully described, because flowers were found, the latter two are new records for peninsular Thailand.

Glycosmis suberosa (Rutaceae), a new species from Khao Luang National Park, Peninsular Thailand

A new species, Glycosmis suberosa H.Toyama & Rueangr. is described from Khao Luang National Park, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand. This species is distinguished from the other Glycosmis species by its characteristic corky branches.

Retracted: Bauhinia saksuwaniae sp. nov. (Leguminosae–Caesalpinioideae) from Thailand

The following article from the Nordic Journal of Botany, ‘Bauhinia saksuwaniae sp. nov. (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae) from Thailand.’ by Sawai Mattapha, Pranom Chantaranothai and Somran Suddee, published online on 11 December 2013 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Torbjorn Tyler and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to the publication of a species under the name B. nakhonpranomensis, prior to the publication of this article.