Impatiens kingdon

Tanaka, Nobuyuki, Sugawara, Takashi, Aung, Mu Mu & Murata, Jin, 2015, Impatiens kingdon-wardii (Balsaminaceae), a new species from Mt. Victoria (Natma Taung), Myanmar, Phytotaxa 234 (1), pp. 90-94 : 90-93

Impatiens kingdon -wardii Nob. Tanaka & T. Sugaw., sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 )

Type:— MYANMAR. Chin State: Kampetlet Township, at the foot of Mt. Victoria , Natma Taung National Park , ca. 1800–2000 m alt., 2 December 2002, J. Murata, N. Tanaka, T. Sugawara, T. Nemoto, Y. Iokawa, F. Shimozono, Hung Maung, Ling Shing Maung & Cho Cho Win 024566 (holotype: MBK; isotypes: RAF and TI) .

Annual herbaceous plant, 30–50 cm tall. Stems erect, pubescent, usually unbranched. Leaves alternate, aggregated towards ends of stems; petioles 3–6 cm long, sparsely pubescent, red to dark red; blades 5–15 cm long, 3–5.5 cm wide, oblong to oblanceolate, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, base cuneate, margins serrate, ciliate, apex acute, abaxially green, adaxially green, reddish on midrib, lateral veins 9–13 pairs. Inflorescences racemose, with 2–9 flowers; peduncles 3–4 mm long, glabrous. Pedicels 1–2 cm long, slender, glabrous. Bracts oblanceolate, ca. 1 mm long, apex acute. Flowers purple, whitish basally. Lateral sepals 2, orbicular, pink, densely pubescent, apex mucronate, 1–1.5 cm long, ca. 1.5 cm wide. Lower sepal 1.5–2 cm long, 1 cm deep excluding spur, infundibuliform, densely pubescent, purple, base abruptly constricted into a spur, spur 5 mm long, incurved, purplish white, densely pubescent. Dorsal petal ca. 1 cm long, 0.7–0.8 cm wide, suborbicular, light pink, abaxially with a crest, adaxially pubescent. Lateral united petals 2–2.5 cm long, 2-lobed; upper lobes ovate, bright purple, apex with hairy club-shaped protuberance; lower lobes broadly obovate, 1–1.2 cm long, ca. 0.8 cm wide, bright purple, apex rounded-obtuse. Stamens 5; filaments 3–4 mm long, glabrous; anthers ellipsoid, apex obtuse. Ovary superior, 5-carpellate, placentation axile, fusiform, 2.5–3 mm long, erect, pubescent. Capsule and seeds unknown.

Distribution and Habitat:—Endemic to Myanmar, only known from the type locality, Mt. Victoria. Growing along the streams and in wet place under the shade at the altitude of 800–1600 m.

Phenology:—Flowering June–December. Fruiting unknown.

Etymology:—Specimen examination in BM revealed that Frank Kingdon-Ward, known as a British plant hunter, has collected the specimen of this species (Kingdon-Ward 22664) in the same locality (Mt. Victoria, Kampetlet) nearly half a century before the authors found this species in 2002. The specific epithet is derived from his surname, “Kingdon-Ward”, who probably collected this species for the first time. Even the specimen is not bearing the label with collection date, it could be in 1956 because of his record of the trip to Mt. Victoria ( Kingdon-Ward 1958).

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes):— MYANMAR. Chin State: Kampetlet Township, Mt. Victoria , Kingdon-Ward 22664 ( BM) ; Kampetlet Township, Mt. Victoria , 17 September 2002, L. S. Maung and C. C. Win 024336 ( MBK, RAF, TI) ; Kampetlet Township, Along the trail to NE of Kampetlet, via Yelong Pan village , Natma Taung National Park . 1400–1600 m alt., 21°13’5” N, 94°3’37.6”–5’41.4” E, 26 June 2009, N. Tanaka & T. Yukawa 081231 ( MBK, RAF) ; Kampetlet Township, near old Kampetlet Village, Natma Taung National Park , 31 August 2012, M. Matsumoto s.n. (TNS-spirit) .

Conservation status:– Impatiens kingdon-wardii is known only from the type locality and its surrounding places within the Natma Taung (Mt. Victoria) National Park. Several populations were observed among our field expeditions in the past decade, however, they are limited in the foot of Mt. Victoria. It is therefore preliminarily assigned to be Vulnerable (VU) according to IUCN Red List criteria ( IUCN 2001).

Notes: More recently, Yu et al. (2015) proposed the new classification system of Impatiens based on morphological and phylogenetic analysis. They divided the genus Impatiens into two subgenera, subgen. Clavicarpa S.X. Yu in Yu et al (2015: 13) and subgen. Impatiens , and further subdivided the latter into seven sections, sect. Semeiocardium (Zoll.) S.X. Yu & Wei Wang in Yu et al. (2015: 13), sect. Tuberosae S.X. Yu & Wei Wang in Yu et al. (2015: 13), sect. Racemosae Hooker & Thomson (1859: 113) , sect. Impatiens , sect. Scorpioidae S.X. Yu & Wei Wang in Yu et al. (2015: 14), sect. Fasciculatae X.S. Yu & Wei Wang in Yu et al. (2015: 13) and sect. Uniflorae Hooker & Thomson (1859: 113). This new species may be assignable to the subgen. Impatiens , sect. Uniflorae by having 5-carpellate ovary and short-fusiform capsules. Within the section, this species is unique by having purple flowers with pink orbicular densely pubescent lateral sepals, and upper lobes of lateral united petals with hairy club-shaped protuberance. Further molecular and morphological analyses are needed to determine more precise evolutionary affinities.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Impatiens kingdon-wardii Nob. Tanaka & T. Sugaw. A. Habit; B. Side view of a flower, arrow shows hairy club-shaped protuberance (see D); C. Front view of a flower; D. A hairy club-shaped protuberance at the apex of upper lobes of lateral united petals. Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 2. Impatiens kingdon-wardii Nob. Tanaka & T. Sugaw. A. Habit; B. Lateral petals; C. Lateral sepal; D. Lower sepal; E. United lateral petals, arrow shows hairy club-shaped protuberance; F.Androecium; H. Gynoecium with pedicel. Scale: 3 cm for A, 1 cm for B and C, 5 mm for D, E, F and G. Drawn by Mutsuko Nakajima based on Murata et al. 024566.