A Systematic Study Of Ficus Subsect. Conosycea

Ficus subsect.Conosycea is a large taxon within sect.Urostigma of subg.Urostigma.According to the latest publication,this subsection includes ca.60 species,mainly distributed in the Malesian region.Most of them are evergreen trees with hemiepiphytic habit.Because of continuous growth,their internodes don’t show differences in length,and their terminal buds are usually slender.Some species(F.benjamina,F.microcarpa)in this subsection are widespread with very variable characters,and their delimitations with closely related species remain problematic.The taxonomic positions of some common species(F.krishnae)are always controversial.The morphological characters and identities of one third species(F.longistipulata,etc.)are unclear.What’s more,at most half species are involved in previous phylogenetic studies,and their relationships are not well resolved.Therefore,the monophyly,circumscription,and subdivision of this subsection are still far from clear.Through the examination and analysis of extensive publications,specimens,living plant photos,and several field trips at home and abroad,the author carefully studies the morphological characters and distribution range of every species in subsect.Conosycea,and the relationships between controversial taxa.To reveal the phylogeny of this subsection,the author obtains samples of 95% species by personal collections,collaborations,and other possible methods.Then Hyb-Seq/Target Enrichment is employed to get 1316 nuclear genes.The phylogenetic analyses indicate that subg.Urostigma is monophyletic while sect.Urostigma is polyphyletic,sect.Leucogyne and sect.Stilpnophyllum sensu Corner non Berg are nested within subsect.Conosycea,and F.humbertii of subsect.Conosycea clusters with sect.Americana and sect.Galoglychia.Thus,the broad concept of subsect.Conosycea is presented here by including sect.Leucogyne & sect.Stilpnophyllum,and excluding F.humbertii.Both Corner’s subdivision of sect.Conosycea and Berg’s subdivision of subsect.Conosycea are not supported by the present study.Based on phylogenetic relationships,morphological characters,and geographic distribution,Corner’s subdivision is adjusted.Consequently,a new classification of subsect.Conosycea with seven series is proposed here,i.e.ser.Benjamineae(Miq.)Corner,ser.Drupaceae Corner,ser.Elasticae(Miq.)Corner,ser.Leucogyne(Corner)S.Liao & Hong-Qing Li,comb.et stat.nov.,ser.Sclerophyllae S.Liao & Hong-Qing Li,ser.nov.,ser.Subvalidae(Miq.)Corner,ser.Validae(Miq.)Corner.The seven series are further divided into fifteen groups,i.e.F.benghalensis group,F.benjamina group,F.callophylla group,F.corneri group,F.crassiramea group,F.curtipes group,F.drupacea group,F.forstenii group,F.microcarpa group,F.pellucidopunctata group,F.pisocarpa group,F.rumphii group,F.sundaica group,F.talbotii group,F.xylophylla group.According to morphological and phylogenetic evidence,a taxonomic treatment of subsect.Conosycea is also proposed here.Four species are reinstated(F.calcicola,F.dulitensis,F.palungensis,F.subtecta),two varieties(F.drupacea var.pedicellata,F.glaberrima var.siamensis)are elevated to specific rank as F.pedicellata and F.siamensis respectively,and ten new synonyms are proposed(F.haematocarpa var.minor,F.hillii,F.longistipulata,F.maclellandii f.glabrirecepta,F.microcarpa var.eubracteata,F.oblongifolia,F.saffordii,F.schlechteri,F.spathulifolia var.annamensis,F.stricta).As a result,seventy-three species and two subspecies are recognized within subsect.Conosycea.The taxonomic treatment includes citations of nomenclatural publications and type specimens,keys to series and species,morphological descriptions,geographic distribution,voucher specimens,and discussions.Color plates of forty-six species are attached as Supplementary Figs.S1–S55.