Melanoseris henryi (Asteraceae-Cichorieae) Revisited: A New Record of Genus and Species from the Flora of Lao PDR with Its Systematic Position

Abstract

Melanoseris henryi (Dunn) N. Kilian (Asteraceae-Cichorieae) is reported for the first time for the Bolaven Plateau of southern Laos (Champasak province). Hitherto this rare species was only known from the type collection made at Pu’er, in southern Yunnan, China, at the end of the 19th century, where it has not been recollected since. This is also the first record for the genus Melanoseris from Laos. The phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) confirms the placement in the Flora of China of this species with 3–6-flowered capitula in the revived Melanoseris. Within the Melanoseris lineage, M. henryi clusters into a clade together with Melanoseris atropurpurea, M. likiangensis, and M. macrantha, all species with many-flowered capitula, which is sister to a clade of two species with 3-flowered capitula, M. tenuis and M. graciliflora. In our molecular phylogeny statistical support of the relationships within the Melanoseris lineage is, however, weak. A description and illustrations of Melanoseris henryi, which is also rare in southern Laos, are provided. The presence of Melanoseris in southern Laos provides new clues to illuminate the history of the geographical distribution and the evolution of this lineage, and even the relationships between the floras of southwestern China and southern Laos.