Agapetes bhareliana ( Airy Shaw 1958: 477 ) D. Banik & Sanjappa, 2008

Yang, Bin, Ding, Hong-Bo, Zhou, Shi-Shun, Maw, Mya Bhone, Maung, Kyaw Win & Tan, Yun-Hong, 2019, Taxonomic studies on Agapetes in Myanmar I: Agapetes reflexiloba, a new species from Kachin State, and notes on three rediscovered species including two new records for Myanmar, Phytotaxa 393 (2), pp. 105-118 : 108

Agapetes bhareliana ( Airy Shaw 1958: 477) D. Banik & Sanjappa in Nord. J. Bot. 26: 4, 2008. ( Figure 2 )

Type: India, Assam: valley of the Bhareli, in jungle, 900–1,200 m.a.s.l., 26 Oct 1935, F. Kingdon Ward 12477 ( BM 000752556!).

Epiphytic shrubs up to ca. 0.8 m tall. Twigs terete, with inconspicuous pale grey lenticels, 3–5 mm in diam., glabrous, young branches with lanceolate-triangular or subulate buds scales, ca. 1–2 mm long. Leaves pseudoverticillate, 4.5–8.5 cm apart, 2–3-leaved; petioles very short, subsessile, 1–2 mm long; leaf blades coriaceous, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 9–13 × 5–8.5 cm, apex attenuate to acuminate, base rounded to subcordate, glabrous, margins obscurely serrate, midvein raised both surfaces, brochidodromous, secondary veins slender, inconspicuous, 12–15 pairs. Inflorescences axillary, corymbose, 3–4-flowered; peduncle 1.2–1.5 cm long, glabrous; pedicels 2–2.5 cm long, glabrous; bracteoles basal, small, triangular or subulate, ca. 1 mm long. Calyx 8–9 mm long, glabrous; calyx tube cylindrical, 3–4 mm long, ca. 3 mm in diam., limb divided to lower part of middle; lobes elliptic-triangular, ca. 5 × 3 mm. Corolla tubular, creamy yellow with 5 red streaking, 5–5.5 cm long, 1.2–1.3 cm in diam.; lobes triangular, 7 × 5–6 mm, margin and apex green, obtuse at apex. Stamens 10, ca. 5 cm long; filaments flat, 5–6 mm long, subcentral bending, glabrous; anthers ca. 4.5 cm long, thecae dull brownish yellow, 7–9 mm long with ca. 1.5 mm long tail, tubules light brownish yellow, 4–4.3 cm long, without spurs. Style ca. 5.2 cm long, stigma capitate, yellowish green, 5-lobed. Fruit unknown.

Phenology: Flowering in November to December, and fruiting may be from January to February.

Distribution and habitat: Agapetes bhareliana is distributed in Myanmar ( Figure 6 ) and India. It is here newly recorded from Myanmar.

Specimens examined: Myanmar. Kachin State: Putao, on the way from Namti to Nahsihbo, 97º 36 ʹ 23.78 ʺ E, 27º 24 ʹ 18.45 ʺ N, alt. 840 m, 16 Dec. 2017, Myanmar Exped. 3762 (HITBC). Ibid., on the way from Nahsihbo to Namti, 97º 37 ʹ 4.54 ʺ E, 27º 24 ʹ 49.04 ʺ N, 11 Dec. 2017, Myanmar Exped. 3437 (HITBC). Ibid., Myanmar Exped. 3431 (only flowers) (HITBC).

Notes: Agapetes bhareliana is distinct in having sessile ovate to ovate-elliptic leaves, rounded at the base, serrate at margin and caudate at apex, and a narrow tubular corolla. It was originally proposed as a separate species by D. Banik and M. Sanjappa (2008b), based on herbarium materials of its type specimen and G. K. Deka’s collection deposited in the Assam herbarium from Northeast India. The type specimen of Agapetes bhareliana was obtained from the valley of the Bhareli in October 1935 by F. Kingdon-Ward and published in 1958 as Agapetes variegata ( Roxburgh 1832: 413) D. Don ex G. Don (1834: 862) var. bhareliana Airy Shaw (1958: 477) . Thereafter, no more specimens of this species had been found subsequent to our examination of the main herbaria worldwide which possessed rich collections from the region and also the literature description ( Banik & Sanjappa, 2008b). During our most recent field expedition in Putao, Kachin state, North Myanmar from November to December in 2017, we collected this species again 82 years after F. Kingdon-Ward’s collection. The rediscovery of this species also represents the first time it has been found in Myanmar, so it is a newly recorded Agapetes species for the flora of Myanmar.

This species was published by Airy Shaw in 1958 with a diagnosis of its unusual leaf characters. These characters were subsequently convinced by Banik & Sanjappa (2008b), but the character of the flower colour is to a large extent based on Kingdon-Ward’s notes, and is quite doubtful. According to our field observation, the corolla colour is creamy yellow with 5 red streaks, not red or cherry red ( Banik & Sanjappa, 2008b). We therefore revised the flower description of this new recorded species.

This species resembles Agapetes subsessilifolia S. H. Huang, H. Sun & Z. K. Zhou (1998: 378) in its sessile to subsessile petiole leaves and its 3–5-flowered corymbose inflorescence, but they can be distinguished from each other by their corollas and leaf blade shapes. The differences between these two species are shown in Table 2.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Agapetes bhareliana. A. Habit; B. Plant (showing flowering branch); C. Branch; D. Part of a branch and corolla; E. Flower; F. Corolla dissection and stamen along with style; G. Flower dissection (from left to right):calyx along with pedicel, corolla, style, stamen. Photographed by H.B. Ding, Y.H. Tan & B. Yang.

FIGURE 6. Distribution of Agapetes reflexiloba, A. bhareliana, A. linerifolia, A. nana and A. pseudo-griffithii in Myanmar based on our field investigation and some specimen records.