Microchirita

Microchirita

Full name and orig. publication: Microchirita (C.B.Clarke) Yin Z.Wang, J. Syst. Evol. 49(1): 59 (2011).

Etymology: Composed of the Greek μῑκρός, micros = small, and the generic name Chirita.

Synonyms: Chirita sect. Microchirita C.B.Clarke, in A. & A.C. de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 5(1): 127 (1883); Roettlera sect. Microchirita (C.B.Clarke) Fritsch (1895); Didymocarpus sect. Microchirita (C.B. Clarke) Chun (1946).

Infrafamilial position: Didymocarpoideae-Trichosporeae-Didymocarpinae (Weber et al. 2013).

Description (from Weber et al. 2011): Annual or longer lived (flowering and fruiting for many years in a ± aseasonal climate, dying down to a rootstock in the dry season of more seasonal climates), caulescent, stems often fleshy or juicy. Leaves in distant pairs, except lowermost leaf solitary (macrocotyledon). Inflorescences usually two or several in a leaf axil, often displaced onto the petiole, often consisting of a short-stalked serial flower pair only, but this repeated several times (serial arrangement, "inflorescence crest"). Calyx lobes free to base, narrowly triangular to narrowly ovate, appressed to fruit. Corolla usually infundibuliform, more rarely tubular or funnel-shaped; limb bilabiate, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, lobes rounded; colour white, bluish, blue, purple, yellow, orange or reddish. Stamens 2, anthers usually joined by an apical ligature (projections on the connectives). Ovary not stipitate, stigma chiritoid. Fruit an elongate, straight or curved capsule, usually splitting into 2 valves. Seeds minute, ellipsoid; (always?) with conspicuous knobs on the testa cells.

Chromosome numbers: n = 9, 17; 2n = 18, 34-36 (see Möller & Pullan, RBGE WebCyte2 (2015 onw.).

Species number: Around 55 (by end of 2024: see also Notes).

Species names (only given in case of few species).

Type species: Microchirita hamosa (R. Br.) Yin Z.Wang. [Basionym: Chirita hamosa C.B.Clarke].

Distribution: From the Western Ghats of India, the foothills of the Himalayas, through continental Southeast Asia to Borneo, Sumatra and Java. The highest concentration of species is in Thailand (37 spp., Middleton et al. 2023).

Ecology: All species currently known are found on karst limestone rocks; in forest or on exposed rocks in the open or in light shade.

Notes: (1) Microchirita is perhaps the most easily recognisable of the genera resulting from the split of Chirita (Weber et al. 2011).

(2) The genus was established by raising Chirita sect. Microchirita C.B.Clarke to generic rank. This was done independently by Wang et al. (2011) and Weber et al. (2011). As the publication of Wang et al. (l. c.) appeared slightly earlier, the authority is Yin Z. Wang.

(3) While Weber et al. (2011) recognised 18 species in 2011, the number of species has increased dramatically due to the continuous description of new species, and currently (end of 2024) stands at 55 (GRC).

Selected references: Wang Yin Z. et al., J. Syst. Evol. 49: 50-64 (2011), establ. Microchirita; Weber et al., Taxon 60(3): 767-790 (2011), reorg. Chirita and allies; Möller & Pullan (2015 onw.): RBGE WebCyte2, chrom. numbers; Li & Xia, J. Syst. Evol. 50(6): 576 (2012), new. sp.; Middleton & Triboun, Thai Forest Bull. (Bot.) 41: 13-22 (2013), new spp. (Thailand); Puglisi et al., Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 71 (1-2): 1-7 (2016), new spp.; Puglisi & Middleton, Gard. Bull. Singapore 69(2): 211–284 (2017), reg. rev. (Thailand); Middleton et al., Thai Forest Bull. 51(2): 54-70 (2023), new spp. Thailand; Souvannakhoummane et al., Gard. Bull. Singapore 73(2): 427–456 (2021), new spp. and records Laos; Souvannakhoummane & Lanorsavanh, Trop. Nat. Hist. 24: 60-69 (2024), new spp. Laos.

Tax. details, cytology, and bibliography: Gesneriaceae Resource Centre (GRC). Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Page content and update responsibility/contact: David J. Middleton.
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