Bomi torchwort (Phlomoides bomiensis) grows at elevations of 3400-4200 meters in China

NEWS - The researchers report and describe a new species, Phlomoides bomiensis, from Bomi, Xizang, China, and describe Phlomoides longidentata, previously known only from Nepal and Bhutan, from Dingri, Xizang, China. This species often grows to more than 1 meter tall.

The phylogenetics of both species were analyzed using nine plastid DNA markers (atpB-rbcL, psbA-trnH, rpl16, rpl32-trnL, rps16, trnK, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, trnT-trnL) with brown-black trichomes in the upper corolla lip and nested in the same subclade of Clade II.

The flowers of P. bomiensis differ from those of P. nyalamensis by having truncated or slightly notched calyx teeth, posterior filaments with folded appendages at their bases, and petals with distinct petioles. The flowers also differ from P. breviflora in that the corolla is longer than 2 cm and the seeds are oblong.

A perennial herbaceous species with strong roots and a linear tuberous shape. The stem is 0.5-1.8 meters high, subrectangular, strong, the lower part of the stem is glabrous, the upper part with simple trichomes. They grow in forests and forest edges at an elevation of 3400-4200 meters.

Flowers from August to September and fruits from October to November. The specific epithet refers to the name of Bomi County in Xizang Autonomous Region, where the new species was discovered. The Chinese name is cháng bō mì cǎo cāo sū (波密草糙苏).

Phlomoides was first described by Conrad Moench or Konrad Mönch (1744-1805) in Methodus: 403 (1794). This species with 14 synonyms has more than 110 species to date.

Original research

Zhao Y, Chen Y-P, Bai R-Z, Pendry CA, Sukhorukov AP, Xiang C-L (2024) A new species and a new record of Phlomoides (Lamiaceae) from Xizang, China. PhytoKeys 246: 15-26. DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.246.129057

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Alang-alang or cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grass, sharp leaf, long buds and scaly, creeping under the ground, very adaptive and grows in all climates which often become weeds on agricultural land. I. cylindrica has a sharp pointed tip of the bud and emerges from the ground, height of 0.2-1.5 m but in other places it may be more, short stems, rising up to the ground and flowering white or purplish, often with wreath of hair under the segment. Leaf strands in the form of long ribbons, lancet-tipped with a narrow base and gutter-shaped, 12-80 cm long, very coarse edge and jagged sharply, long hair at the base with broad, pale leaf bones in the middle. The flowers are panicles, 6-28 cm long with long-haired and white-colored ears for 1 cm which are used as a tool to blow off the fruit when ripe. Cogon grass breeds quickly with seeds that spread quickly with the wind or through rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. Alang-alang does...

Ralph Holzenthal caddisfly (Rhyacophila lignumvallis) from Corsica in Rhyacophila tristis (Schmid 1970) group

NEWS - Ralph Holzenthal caddisfly ( Rhyacophila lignumvallis Graf & Rázuri-Gonzales, sp. nov.) from the island of Corsica (France) was established as a new species in the Rhyacophila tristis (Schmid 1970) group based on morphological analysis and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI), including sequences from 16 of the 28 species in the group. Rhyacophila Pictet 1834 with 814 living and 30 fossil species is the largest genus of caddisflies in the world, distributed mainly in the northern hemisphere, but also in temperate and tropical India and Southeast Asia. One of the groups is the R. tristis group in the branch Rhyacophila invaria . R. lignumvallis is most similar to Rhyacophila pubescens Pictet 1834, Rhyacophila tsurakiana Malicky 1984, Rhyacophila ligurica Oláh & Vinçon 2021, Rhyacophila harmasa Oláh & Vinçon 2021 and Rhyacophila abruzzica Oláh & Vinçon 2021. However, R. lignumvallis differs in the shape of the X tergum, the dorsal arm ...

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...

Dlium