Description of 11 new Astiella (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae) species endemic to Madagascar

  • Inge Groeninckx Plant Conservation and Population Biology, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, P.O. Box 2435, 3001 Leuven
  • Steven Janssens Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise
  • Erik Smets Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden
  • Brecht Verstraete Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Sølvgade 83S, 1307 Copenhagen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.312
Keywords: Astiella, endemism, Madagascar, Rubiaceae, Spermacoceae s. lat.

Abstract

Astiella is an herbaceous genus endemic to Madagascar, originally described with a single species A. delicatula Jovet. Molecular and morphological evidence place it in the tribe Spermacoceae s. lat. of Rubiaceae. During herbarium studies and fieldwork in Madagascar, 11 new Astiella species were identified and these are described here: A. antongilensis Groeninckx sp. nov., A. antsalovansis Groeninckx sp. nov., A. confusa Groeninckx sp. nov., A. deblockiae Groeninckx sp. nov., A. desseinii Groeninckx sp. nov., A. homolleae Groeninckx sp. nov., A. latifolia Groeninckx sp. nov., A. longifimbria Groeninckx sp. nov., A. perrieri Groeninckx sp. nov., A. pulla Groeninckx sp. nov., and A. tsaratanensis Groeninckx sp. nov. The genus Astiella now holds 12 species in total that are all endemic to Madagascar.

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Published
2017-04-25
How to Cite
Groeninckx, I., Janssens, S., Smets, E., & Verstraete, B. (2017). Description of 11 new Astiella (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae) species endemic to Madagascar. European Journal of Taxonomy, (312). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.312
Issue
No. 312 (2017): Description of 11 new Astiella (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae) species endemic to Madagascar
Section
Botany
Copyright (c) 2017 Inge Groeninckx, Steven Janssens, Erik Smets, Brecht Verstraete

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