Mycetia (Rubiaceae) from Khao Soi Dao, Chanthaburi Province, SE Thailand: the discovery of a remarkable new species and the true identity of a supposedly endemic species

Abstract

Mycetia basifl ora Puff, a new species endemic to Khao Soi Dao, Chanthaburi Province, SE Thailand and known from three geographically well separated localities, is described. The species differs from all other taxa of the genus in having infl orescences at or near the base of the stems (basifl orous infl orescences). This is the fi rst record of that condition in the Rubiaceae. The genus also has species with caulifl orous infl orescences (3 of these also occurring in Thailand); the here described new discovery thus makes Mycetia the only known genus in the Rubiaceae with both cauli- and basifl orous taxa. Several recent collections provide evidence that the previously incompletely known and supposedly endemic M. membranacea is conspecifi c with M. gracilis (previously not recorded from Khao Soi Dao).