Eriobotrya bengalensis (Roxb.) Kurz f. contracta (B.B.Liu & J.Wen) Idrees & J.M.H.Shaw, 2025

Idrees, Muhammad, Li, Meng, Shaw, Julian M. H., Zhang, Zhiyong & Ahmad, Mushtaq, 2025, New species, combinations and synonyms in Eriobotrya (Rosaceae), Phytotaxa 712 (1), pp. 31-46 : 42-43

Eriobotrya bengalensis (Roxb.) Kurz f. contracta (B.B.Liu & J.Wen) Idrees & J.M.H.Shaw , comb. nov.

Homotypic synonyms: — Rhaphiolepis bengalensis (Roxb.) B.B.Liu & J.Wen f. contracta B.B.Liu & J.Wen, PhytoKeys 154: 24 (2020a) [ Eriobotrya bengalensis (Roxb.) Hook.f. f. contracta J.E.Vidal , Adansonia , n.s., 5: 569 (1965) nom. inval.; Eriobotrya bengalensis var. contracta (J.E.Vidal) X.F.Gao & Idrees , Pakistan J. Bot. 54(3): 992 (2022) nom. inval.].

Type:— VIETNAM. Region de Hue , 6 Sept. 1938, E. Poilane 27620 (holotype P03650248!; isotype P03650249!) .

Discussion:— Eriobotrya tsaingii is similar to E. malipoensis in having oblanceolate or obovate leaf, leaf base attenuate, leaf adaxially glabrous, midvein prominent on both surfaces, contracted inflorescence, bracteoles lanceolate, pedicels and peduncles densely rusty tomentose, and styles connate and villous at base, but differs from the latter by a combination of several morphological traits, including the size of the panicle, the length of the pedicels and peduncle, bracts shape, and ovules in ovary, the leaf blade, the petiole surface, the leaf apex, the leaf margins, the pairs of lateral veins, and the leaf abaxial surface. E. tsaingii has leaf blades 18–35 × 5–12 cm long, petioles glabrous, leaf apex rounded or obtuse, leaf margins entire basally, remotely inconspicuously serrate apically, lateral veins 14–16 pairs, leaf abaxially glabrous, panicle 4–5 × 2.5–3 cm long, pedicels absent, bracts ovate, 5–6 mm long, and ovary 5-loculed. In contrast, E. malipoensis has leaf blades 30–40 × 10–15 long, petioles tomentose, leaf apex acute, leaf margins remotely obtusely serrate, lateral veins 20–25 pairs, leaf abaxially densely rusty tomentose, panicle 8–10 cm long, pedicels 2–4 mm long, bracts lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, and ovary 2-loculed.

E. tsaingii is also similar to E. serrata in having leaf blades size, leaf apex obtuse, leaf base attenuate, leaf adaxially glabrous, petioles glabrous, midvein prominent on both surfaces, contracted inflorescence, petals villous at base, and styles 3 or 4(or 5), but can be distinguished from the latter by leaf blade larger, 18–35 × 5–12 cm long, leaf abaxially glabrous, leaf margin entire basally, and remotely inconspicuously serrate apically, small panicles 4–5 × 2.5–3 cm long, pedicels absent, bracts ovate, bracteoles laceolate, densely rusty tomentose pedicels and peduncle, and styles connate at the base. In contrast, E. serrata has smaller leaf blades 9–23 × 3.5–13 cm long, leaf abaxially brownish yellow tomentose, leaf margin incurved-serrate, bigger panicles ca. 8 cm long, caducous bracts and bracteoles, densely yellow tomentose pedicels and peduncle, and styles free at the base.

BLAST analysis showed that ITS regions consistently achieve the highest success rates for species identification (98–100%). These findings corroborate the current study hypothesis that ITS can accurately identify closely related and phylogenetically distant species ( Li et al. 2009, Kang et al. 2021, Dong et al. 2022). The new species sequence was 96% identical to Eriobotrya obovata , according to a BLAST search (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). The phylogenetic relationships based on internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions confirmed the position of novel species. E. tsaingii was shown to form a clade with E. obovata in the ML tree ( Fig. 1 ). The new species differs from E. obovata by having larger leaf blades 18–35 × 5–12 cm long (vs. 5–15 × 2–6 cm long in E. obovata ), attenuated leaf base (vs. cuneate or broadly cuneate in E. obovata ), 14–16 pairs of lateral veins (vs. 10–14 pairs in E. obovata ), panicles 4–5 × 2.5–3 cm long, and contracted (vs. 6–7 cm, and spreading in E. obovata ), pedicels absent (vs. 2–4 mm long in E. obovata ), densely rusty tomentose pedicels and peduncle (vs. densely brown tomentose in E. obovata ), styles 5, and connate at base (vs. 2 or 3, and free at base in E. obovata ), ovary 5-loculed (vs. ovary 2- or 3-loculed in E. obovata ). Table 2 presents a comparison of the four species.

For the first time, we reported the molecular identification of E. kwangsiensis and E. fulvicoma with the rest of the Eriobotrya species, and BLAST-searched findings showed that the sequences of both species were 100% similar, while the ML tree ( Fig. 1 ) suggested that both species formed a clade. Prior morphometric research by Zhang et al. (2017) indicated that E. kwangsiensis , E. deflexa , and E. cavaleriei are closely related and distinct from other species within the genus. Yang et al. (2012) and Li et al. (2009) claimed that E. kwangsiensis formed a sister clade to E. deflexa and E. deflexa var. buisanensis . The current findings are consistent with previous morphometric, and taxonomic studies conducted by Idrees et al. (2021a, 2022), as well as morphological characteristics and SEM analysis further confirmed the similarities between the two taxa ( Figs. 1 , 5 & 6 ).

The nrDNA sequences clearly clarified the Eriobotrya and Rhaphiolepis phylogenetic relationships, affirming that both genera are robustly supported as monophyletic, consistent with previous published phylogenetic studies ( Yang et al. 2012, 2017, Idrees et al. 2020b, Kang et al. 2021, Dong et al. 2022). Moreover, numerous issues among major clades of Eriobotrya and Rhaphiolepis were resolved here. According to Dong et al. (2022), E. condaoensis is the earliest diverging extant lineage of Eriobotrya , and is distantly related to E. henryi and E. seguinii . Our findings demonstrated that the three species ( E. henryi , E. condaoensis , and E. seguinii ) constituted a clade, supporting earlier research ( Liu et al. 2020b, Idrees et al. 2020b, Kang et al. 2021). The position of E. crassifolia was confirmed and close relationships with E. tengyuehensis . Yang (2005), Yang et al. (2012) and Li et al. (2009) proposed that E. malipoensis was evolutionary different from other species and that more research is necessary to verify their relationship with other Eriobotrya species. Our findings indicated that E. malipoensis , E. prinoides , E. japonica , E. × daduheensis , and E. shanensis formed a group in Clade II, confirming prior research on evolutionary relationships ( Idrees et al. 2018, Kang et al. 2021). E. deflexa , E. cavaleriei , and E. fragrans formed a group in clade III, which aligns with prior research ( Idrees et al. 2018, 2020b, Kang et al. 2021, Dong et al. 2022). Chen et al. (2021) based on nuclear data demonstrated that E. dubia formed a sister group with E. seguinii and E. henryi . Our result confirmed the position of E. dubia and formed a group with E. kwangsiensis and E. fulvicoma . In the genus Rhaphiolepis , we confirmed that R. philippinensis and R. umbellata are closely related and constituted a clade. Flora of China ( Gu & Spongberg 2003a) did not include the name R. jiulongjiangensis in Rhaphiolepis since they did not see the specimens and suggested further research to confirm, however, we confirmed it relationship with the rest of the genus. R. jiulongjiangensis formed a separate clade and should be considered the most primitive taxa in Rhaphiolepis . The transfer of Photinia bodinieri H.Lév. to Weniomeles bodinieri (H.Lév.) B.B.Liu is controversial, considering prior results of Liu et al. (2019), Liu et al. (2020b), and Jin et al. (2023), which showed Photinia bodinieri formed relationships with Stranvaesia species, while current findings, however, indicate that Photinia bodinieri (now Weniomeles bodinieri ) formed a clade with Stranvaesia nussia (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) Decne. and Stranvaesia oblanceolata (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) Stapf. The evolutionary positions of this species within this group will be resolved by additional analyses based on morphological and molecular evidence.

Conclusions:— This study utilises the nrDNA ITS region to investigate the genetic relationships of that newly proposed species E. tsiangii , the identity of E. kwangsiensis and the nearest species E. fulvicoma , as well as with the evolutionary relationships among Eriobotrya species. The findings indicated that E. tsiangii is closely related to E. obovata . Phylogenetic reconstruction confirmed the taxonomy of E. kwangsiensis and E. fulvicoma . Furthermore, three new combinations Eriobotrya bengalensis f. intermedia (B.B.Liu & J.Wen) Idrees & J.M.H.Shaw , E. bengalensis f. multinervata (B.B.Liu & J.Wen) Idrees & J.M.H.Shaw , and E. bengalensis f. contracta (B.B.Liu & J.Wen) Idrees & J.M.H.Shaw are proposed here to ensure the nomenclature stability. The findings of this study contribute to the nuclear sequence database and establish a basis for subsequent research on taxonomy, nomenclature, and the systematic study of the Eriobotrya genus globally.

Figures

FIGURE 1. The Maximum Likelihood tree depicts the phylogeny of the new species and other species in the genus based on nrDNA ITS sequences. The numbers on the branches indicate bootstrap percentages over 50%, and newly studied species are labelled in Red (green part).

FIGURE 5. Similarties between E. kwangsiensis and E. fulvicoma. A1) Holotype of E. kwangsiensis (C.Wang 39432, IBK!), A2) Isotype of E. kwangsiensis (C.Wang 39432, SZ!), A3) Isotype of E. kwangsiensis (C.Wang 39432, PE!), B1) Isotype of E. fulvicoma (C.Wang 32257, IBK!), B2) Isotype of E. fulvicoma (C.Wang 32257, SZ!), B3) Isotype of E. fulvicoma (C.Wang 32257, KUN!), C1) Fruiting specimen of E. fulvicoma (Gao Xipeng 53015, KUN!), C2) Fruiting specimen of E. fulvicoma (Gao Xipeng 53015, IBK!), C2) Fruiting specimen of E. fulvicoma (Gao Xipeng 53015, SN!).

FIGURE 6. SEM analysis of Eriobotrya species:A1) Leaf adaxial surface of E. kwangsiensis,A2) Leaf abaxial surface of E. kwangsiensis, B1) Leaf adaxial surface of E. fulvicoma, A2) Leaf abaxial surface of E. fulvicoma. Bar: 50–300 μm.