Little known Curculigo brevifolia deserves a species rank: evidences from morphological, cytological and molecular data

Abstract

The Curculigo brevifolia resurrected here based on morphological, cytological, and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Curculigo brevifolia morphologically resembles C. orchioides but differs in having bulbils at the tip of leaves for vegetative reproduction, leaves elongated falcately shaped, beaked fruits. Cytological parameters, karyotype formula, total haploid genome length (THL), values of CVCL, MCA also supported the distinctness of C. brevifolia and C. orchioides. Phylogenetic analysis based on cpDNA data resulted in the recognition of three clades and strongly supported the revised systematics of Hypoxidaceae. The resurrected species nests within the Curculigo clade of Hypoxidaceae and display a close phylogenetic affinity with newly added Curculigo species and C. orchioides.

Keywords

• Cytology
• Phylogeny
• rbcL
• Taxonomy
• trnL-F