NEPHOANTHUS NUBIGENUS 2022

During a feld investigation in southern Viet Nam, researchers came across a remarkable herbaceous species of Melastomataceae in a cloud forest on the Langbiang Plateau in Khanh Hoa province.

Detailed morphological studies (looking at the structural features of a species) revealed that it was closely related to Phyllagathis prostrata, a species found in Viet Nam and Hainan Island, China, whose attractive foliage has made it a popular greenhouse plant among indoor plant enthusiasts around the world.

However, phylogenetic analysis (which looks at species through their evolutionary development and common ancestry) showed the newly collected specimens and P. prostrata to be only distantly related to other members of the Phyllagathis genus. Nor could they be placed in any of the other 175 genera in the Melastomataceae family.

The two species have now been recognized as a new genus, Nephoanthus – derived from the Greek nephos (cloud) and anthus (fower) for the cloud forest habitat where they grow. The new species was named N. nubigenus (cloud-born).

“Over the years, our team has explored and published many new species of Begonia and Orchidaceae in Viet Nam,” said lead researcher Che Wei Lin. “This demonstrates that there are still many new discoveries waiting to be made in the country.”

Lin, C.W., Hsu, T.C., Luu, H.T., Yang, T.Y.A. and Li, C.W. (2022). Nephoanthus (Melastomataceae: Sonerileae), a new genus segregated from Phyllagathis s.l., with a new species from Southern Vietnam. Phytotaxa 547(1): 66-76. doi. org/10.11646/phytotaxa.547.1.6