INTRODUCTION the Genus Bauhinia L. Is Placed in Tribe

THAI FOR. BULL. (BOT.) 43: 70–73. 2015.

Lasiobema ﬂ avum (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), a new record for the Flora of Thailand

RUTH P. CLARK1

ABSTRACT. Lasiobema ﬂ avum was until now known only from two specimens collected in Peninsular Malaysia. A specimen collected in Trang District, Thailand, in 2011 represents a new record for the country, and the ﬁ rst collection since 1934. A revised description, colour photos, and preliminary conservation assessment for the species are provided here.

KEY WORDS: Bauhinia, Cercideae, endangered, Fabaceae, limestone, Phanera. INTRODUCTION Lasiobema fl avum was described by de Wit (1956) based on a specimen collected in Langkawi The genus Bauhinia L. is placed in tribe Island on the Malay Peninsula in 1934. Subsequently, Cercideae, subtribe Bauhiniinae. This subtribe has the species has not been collected, and has not been previously been considered to be a single large, known from outside of Peninsular Malaysia until heterogeneous genus, Bauhinia s.l., comprising ca now. During fi eldwork in Trang Province in 2011, 300–350 spp., or has been understood to comprise a specimen of L. fl avum was collected, which as many as 26 segregate genera (Wunderlin, 1976). represents a new record for Thailand. Moreover, it Recent phylogenetic analyses (Bruneau et al. 2001 is the fi rst known collection of the species since the & 2008; Hao et al., 2003; Sinou et al., 2009) have type collection in 1934. provided evidence that Bauhinia s.l. is not a mono- phyletic group, due to the position of the monospecifi c Brenierea nested within it. These studies have MATERIALS AND METHODS demonstrated that Bauhinia s.l. should be divided Collections in herbaria BKF, K and SING into a number of segregate genera as proposed by (Thiers, 2014) were reviewed for additional speci- Lewis & Forest (2005), one of which is Lasiobema mens, and collections at L, P and the Australian (Korth.) Miq. herbaria were searched using online databases. Lasiobema was created as Bauhinia subgenus JSTOR was checked for specimen records. Lasiobema by Korthals in 1841, and was subse- Preliminary Conservation Assessments were quently upranked to genus level by Miquel in 1855. produced by mapping localities in GeoCAT (Bachman There are currently 15–20 species recognised within et al., 2011), generating EOO and AOO values us- Lasiobema (Lewis et al., 2005), ca 10 of these ing this program, and evaluating the distribution. occuring in Thailand. Lasiobema is part of the The current state of the vegetation in these locali- group of South East Asian tendrilled lianas that ties was assessed using Google Earth images. also includes Phanera Lour. s. s. and Lysiphyllum (Benth.) de Wit. Like Phanera, the fl ower of Lasiobema has 3 fertile stamens, but the genus is Lasiobema fl avum de Wit, Reinwardtia 3(4): 381– further characterised by the receptacle being very 539. 1956.; Larsen & Larsen, Fl. Males., Ser. I, short and turbinate or absent (de Wit 1956), and by Spermat. 12(2): 442–535. 1996.— Bauhinia fl ava the presence of a fl oral disc in most species. (de Wit) Cusset, Adansonia Ser. II, 6: 278. 1966.

1 Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK.

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Type: Peninsular Malaysia, Kedah State, W coast, Field notes: Flower pale yellow, stamen fi la- P. Dayang Bunting, Pulau Langkawi, 26 Nov. 1934, ments and ovary pale green, fl oral disc dark yellow; Henderson s.n., Sing. Field 29.1466 (holotype K; fl owers sweetly scented. isotypes K, L, SING). Fig. 1. Thailand.— PENINSULAR: Trang, Rassada [Measurements in square brackets represent [Wat Nong Si Chan, 07º 59’53.8”N 99º 44’11.1”E, those presented by other authors, these values not 165 m, 17 Nov. 2011, Clark et al. 252 (K, QBG)]. observed by the present author.] Secondary veins Additional material examined.— Peninsular are those parallel to the central vein. Malaysia: Climber, to ca 7 m long, with tendrils arising Perlis: Tebing Tinggi, Mar. 1910, Ridley in leaf axils or on lower parts of infl orescence axis. 15109 (SING). Stipules linear, oblong, ca 0.5 × 1 mm. Stems sparsely Distribution.— Peninsular Malaysia (Langkawi, orange tomentose, glabrescent. Petiole 1.5–7 cm, Perlis). sparsely orange tomentose, glabrescent. Leaves suborbicular, bilobed 1/3–2/3, apex of lobes rounded Ecology.— Limestone hills, in open areas. to acute, base shallowly to deeply cordate; glabrous 0–165 m. both surfaces, or orange tomentose between base Phenology.— Flowering in November; fruit- of veins on lower surface, and on lower part of ing in March. veins; 6–16 × 6–17 cm; secondary veins 8–10, slightly Preliminary Conservation Assessment.— This raised on both surfaces. Infl orescence a raceme or species is known from only 3 specimens, collected panicle, axillary or terminal, the racemes alternate; in 1910, 1934, and 2011, with one unconfi rmed racemes to 17 cm, whole infl orescence to 30 cm; (sterile) specimen collected in 1941. It is known axis densely golden-orange tomentose when young, from 3 localities, Langkawi Island and Perlis in hair becoming sparse when older. Pedicell 3–5 mm, Peninsular Malaysia, and Trang Province in golden-orange tomentose. Bracts single at base of Thailand. The two most distant localities (Langkawi pedicel, narrowly triangular, 1–3 mm, outer surface and Trang), are ca 180 km apart, indicating that the golden-orange tomentose with glabrous patches, species has a very restricted distribution. inner surface glabrous. Bracteoles 2, opposite or subopposite, midway along or lower on the pedicel, The Extent of Occurrence (EOO) of the narrowly triangular, 1–1.5 mm, outer surface species is 4,158.801 km2, andd the Area of tomentose, inner surface glabrous. Budd ovoid, ca 3 × Occupancy (AOO) is 12.000 km2. According to 2 mm. Calyx splitting into 5 lobes, these refl exing both of these values, the species can be considered in mature fl ower, ovate to elliptic, ca 4 × 2 mm, to be Endangered (EN) according to IUCN Criteria densely fawn or golden pubescent on outer surface, B1 and B2. inner surface with few hairs, striate. Receptacle The rarity of collection events, coupled with absent. Petals: Median petal blade suborbicular, ca the fact that the species appears to occur only on 7 × 6 mm, plus claw 1.5 mm; lateral petals obovate, limestone across a limited range in Peninsular 5–7 × 3–6 mm, tapering to and including claw 1–2 Thailand and Malaysia, suggests that the species mm; all petals sparsely orange hairy on outer surface, may be at risk of extinction. Some limestone forest glabrous on innerr surface. Fertile stamens 3, [6–] 11– is still present on Langkawi Island (Google Earth; 13 mm, glabrous, anthers [0.5–] 2 mm. Staminodes B. Chuan pers. comm.), and the population of L. 2–7, 0.5–1.5 mm, glabrous. Ovary arising below fl avum there may still exist, despite no collections disc, through cleft in disc, 3–5 mm, with stipe 1–2 of the species having been made on this island mm, style ca 5 mm, all glabrous; ovules 6–7; stigma since 1934. The majority of the state of Perlis is small, capitate, glabrous. Disc fl eshy, corrugated, covered by agricultural and urban land use; how- ca 2–3 mm diameter × 1 mm deep. Fruitt dehiscent, ever, some forest remains in the vicinity of Tebing oblong, 6–8 × 1.5 cm, glabrous. Seeds 3–6, fl at, Tinggi, so the population of L. fl avum in this locality orbicular, ca 1 cm diameter. may be extant. The population of the species on the

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limestone hill at Wat Nohng Si Chan is not known REFERENCES to be currently threatened. However, it is noted that Bachman, S., Moat, J., Hill, A.W., de la Torre, J., & karst limestone hills in Thailand are subject to Scott, B. (2011). Supporting Red List threat as- quarrying, (Clements et al., 2006), which constitutes sessments with GeoCAT: geospatial conserva- a major threat to these habitats, and may impact tion assessment tool. In: V. Smith & L. Penev this locality in the long term. (eds), e-Infrastructures for data publishing in Taxonomic Notes: One specimen at SING biodiversity science. ZooKeys 150: 117–126. herbarium is determined as cf. L. fl avum (det. K. & (Version BETA). S.S. Larsen, 1980): Corner, E.J.H., Peninsular Bruneau, A., Forest, F., Herendeen, P.S., Klitgaard, Malaysia, Kedah State, Tasek Dayang Bunting, B.B. & Lewis, G.P. (2008). Phylogenetic patterns Langkawi Island, 17 Nov. 1941 (SING). This spec- and diversifi cation in the casalpinoid legumes. imen is sterile, and the leaf is bilobed to the base, Botany 86: 697–718. whereas that of L. fl avum is bilobed 1/3–2/3, and Bruneau, A . , Mercure, M., Lewis, G.P. & Herendeen, the leaf apices are acuminate, rather than rounded P.S. (2001). Phylogenetic relationships in the or acute. It could be, as suggested by K. & S.S. Caesalpinioideae (Leguminosae) as inferred from Larsen, a basal shoot, which may have a leaf form chloroplast trnL intron sequences. Systematic differing from that of mature branches; however, Botany 26: 487–514. this is uncertain, and the identity of this specimen Clements, R., Sodhi, N.S., Schilthuizen, M., Ng, is therefore doubtful, hence it is not included in the P.K.L. (2006). Limestone Karsts of Southeast current description. Asia: Imperiled Arks of Biodiversity. Bioscience 56 (9): 733–742. doi: 10.1641/0006-3568(2006) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 56[733:LK I am grateful to Piyakaset Suksathan, Kaweesak Cusset, G. (1966). Essai d’une Taxinomie Foliaire Keeratikiat, Paul Wilkin and Anna Trias-Blasi for dans la tribu des Bauhinieae. Adansonia series facilitating and participating in the fi eldwork during 2, 6: 278 which the new specimen was found. Thanks to Emma de Wit, H.C.D. (1956). A revision of Malaysian Williams at RBG Kew for resolving a nomenclature Bauhinieae. Reinwardtia 3(4): 381–539. query.

Figure 1. Lasiobema ﬂ avum (specimen Clark et al. 252): A. Leaves and habit; B. ﬂ owers. Photos by Piyakaset Suksathan.

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