Tuberowithania pengiana (Withaninae, Physalideae, Solanaceae), a new species and genus from southwest Yunnan, China

Abstract

We describe a small population of remarkable plants found in Shuangjiang County, SW Yunnan, as Tuberowithania pengiana gen. & sp. nov., a unique genus within the subtribe Withaninae, tribe Physalideae of the Solanaceae family. The new genus and species feature a distinctive combination of morphological traits, including a large clumped tuberous root, urceolate and densely pubescent dark purplish flowers, densely pubescent purplish filaments, and yellowish-white, ovoid berries snugly covered by 10-ribbed accrescent calyx. Molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on a combined matrix of four DNA markers (nrITS, trnL-F, waxy, LFY), revealed that T. pengiana is deeply nested within the subtribe Withaninae. It forms a sister relationship with Archiphysalis chamaesarachoides, although with weak support.