ScienceAsia 34 (2008): 103-106 |doi: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.2008.34.103

Epicuticular Leaf Architecture Confirms a New Smilax Species (Smilacaceae) from Northeast Thailand

Bruce Roger Moore^a*, Nual-Anong Narkkong^b, Theeraporn Moore^c and Petra Lutat^c

 
ABSTRACT:    A new species, Smilax petiolatumidus Moore, Narkkong, Moore et Lutat sp. nov. is proposed based upon a specimen from Loei province, Thailand, having leaves with a distinctively swollen petiole and one to many sub-tending thorns. Our recognition of this sterile individual as a new species is confirmed by its unique epicuticular leaf architecture. This is the first instance in which leaf epidermal architecture has been applied as a taxonomic tool in the absence of reproductive structures to diagnose a new Thai species of Smilacaceae.

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a Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Department of Western Languages and Linquistics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, 44150, Thailand.
b Central Instrumentation Unit, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand.
c Palaeontological Research and Education Centre, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand.

* Corresponding author, E-mail: br-moore@hotmail.com

Received 11 Jul 2007, Accepted 12 Nov 2007