Vepris amaniensis : a morphological, biochemical, and molecular investigation of a species complex.

Ciambrone, Mary; Langat, Moses K.; Cheek, Martin

Vepris amaniensis : a morphological, biochemical, and molecular investigation of a species complex.

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Ciambrone, Mary

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Langat, Moses K.

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Cheek, Martin

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September 25, 2024

Abstract

Comm. ex A. Juss. is a genus of 96 species extending from Africa to India that are distinct in their unarmed stems and their digitately (1-)3(-5) foliolate leaflets, and whose many secondary compounds earn them uses in traditional medicine. Mziray (1992) subsumed six related genera into , with (Engl.) Mziray becoming somewhat of a dustpan for ambiguous specimens (Cheek & Luke, 2023). This study, using material from the Kew herbarium, sought to pull out novel species from those previously incorrectly filed as , and here describes the new species sp. nov. This species is morphologically distinct from with its canaliculate to winged petioles, 0.5–2.3 cm long inflorescences, 1–3 foliolate leaflets, and hairs on inflorescences and stem apices. Phytochemical analysis attributed seven compounds to : tecleanthine ( ), evoxanthine ( ), 6-methoxytecleanthine ( ), tecleanone ( ), 1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-1,2,3-propanetriol ( ), lupeol ( ), and arborinine ( ). This is a unique mixture of compounds for a species of , though all are known to occur in the genus, with the exception of 1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-1,2,3-propanetriol ( ) which was characterized from a species in the Asteraceae. An attempt at constructing a phylogeny for using the ITS and regions was made, but these two regions could not be used to differentiate at species level and it is suggested that 353 sequencing is used for further research. Originally more than one new species was hypothesized to be within the study group; however, separating an additional species was unsupported by the data produced. Further phylogenetic analysis is recommended to fully elucidate species relationships and identify any cryptic species that may be present within .