Perakanthus longipetalus (Y.H.Tan & S.S.Zhou) L.Neo & K.M.Wong, 2020

Neo, Louise, Mahyuni, Ridha & Wong, K. M., 2020, Perakanthus longipetalus (Rubiaceae), a new combination, and the first record of the genus outside Peninsular Malaysia, Phytotaxa 436 (3), pp. 298-300 : 299

Perakanthus longipetalus (Y.H.Tan & S.S.Zhou) L.Neo & K.M.Wong , comb. nov.

Basionym: — Canthium longipetalum Y.H.Tan & S.S.Zhou in Yang et al. (2019: 197).

Type:— MYANMAR. Kachin State: Putao, near Upper Shankhaung , 650 m, 97°14’25”E, 27°26’30”N, 24 May 2017, Myanmar Exped. 1983 (holotype HITBC ; isotype RAF ).

A morphological comparison was made between Perakanthus longipetalus and Perakanthus velutinus (formerly the single known species in the genus) to demonstrate that they are sufficiently different ( Table 1 ). Perakanthus was previously thought to be endemic to Peninsular Malaysia (southern Kedah, Perak, and Johor states) ( Puff & Wong 2005), and the discovery of Perakanthus longipetalus in northern Myanmar is a significant extension of its geographic range, suggesting that there could possibly be other overlooked species of the genus in the region.