Notes on Gymnopetalum (Cucurbitaceae) from the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
Article Sidebar
Abstract Views: 198
File Views: 150
Main Article Content
Abstract
Abstract. Pratami MP, Santika Y, Rugayah. 2026. Notes on Gymnopetalum (Cucurbitaceae) from the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. Nusantara Bioscience 18 (1): n180101. https://doi.org/10.13057/nusbiosci/n180101. Four species of Gymnopetalum (G. chinensis, G. orientale, G. scabrum, and G. pectinatum) have been reported for the Malesian Region, all of which can be found in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. The genus is closely related to Trichosanthes, and one species, G. orientale, morphologically resembles T. quinquangulata. Moreover, molecular data place Gymnopetalum as a section of Trichosanthes (=Trichosanthes sect. Tripodanthera). In this study, morphology and leaf anatomy observation have been conducted on BO collections of Gymnopetalum from the Lesser Sunda Islands. Anatomical observation of leaf paradermal sections follows the method of Sass and Cutler. An unidentified specimen collected from Lombok (Kahono, Nakano, and Abbas 2005-36) resembles G. orientale in floral characters but differs in leaf shape. Anatomical data support morphological data that the specimen is similar to G. orientale in epidermis characters. They have the same epidermis cell shape i.e. irregularly shaped with shallowly sinuous anticlinal walls, but differ in size only, G. orientale has epidermal cell sizes of 19-24.80 × 12.40-14.88 µm (upper) and 19.84-21.32 × 12.40-14.88 µm (lower), whereas the Kahono Nakano, Abbas 2005-36 specimen has epidermal cell sizes of 27.28-29.76 × 14.88-17.36 µm (upper) and 24.80-27.28 × 17.36-19.84 µm (lower). These differences fall within morphological variation and support the identification of the Lombok material as G. orientale. The anatomical evidence corroborates previous morphological and molecular studies, indicating intermediate characters between G. orientale and T. quinquangulata, reinforcing the close evolutionary relationship between the two genera. This study contributes additional morphological and anatomical data supporting the phylogenetic placement of Gymnopetalum within Trichosanthes.
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Backer, van den Brink RCB. 1963. Flora of Java. Vol 1. NVP Noordhoff, Groningen (NL).
Cutler DF. 1978. Applied Plant Anatomy. Longman, London and New York.
de Boer HJ, Schaefer H, Thulin M, Renner SS. 2012. Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals: A case study using a dated phylogeny of the snake gourds, Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Evol Biol 12: 108. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-108.
de Boer HJ, Thulin M. 2012. Synopsis of Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae) based on recent molecular phylogenetic data. Phyto Key 12: 23-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.12.2952.
de Wilde WJJO, Duyfjes BEE, Rugayah. 2015. Gymnopetalum pectinatum (W.J.de Wilde and Duyfjes) Rugayah: Rank of species for Gymnopetalum scabrum var. pectinatum (Cucurbitaceae). Reinwardtia 14 (2): 323-324. https://doi.org/10.14203/reinwardtia.v14i2.1679%20%20%20%20.
de Wilde WJJO, Duyfjes BEE. 2006. Review of the genus Gymnopetalum (Cucurbitaceae). Blumea 51: 281-296. https://doi.org/10.3767/000651906X622229.
de Wilde WJJO, Duyfjes BEE. 2010. Flora Malesiana Cucurbitaceae Series 1 Vol. 19. Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis (NHN). Leiden University, Leiden.
Kementerian Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional / Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional (Bappenas). 2024. Indonesian biodiversity strategy and action plan 2025 - 2045 (IBSAP 2025 -2045). Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional, Jakarta. [Indonesian]
Kocyan A, Zhang LB, Schaefer H, Renner SS. 2007. A multi-locus chloroplast phylogeny for the Cucurbitaceae and its implications for character evolution and classification. Mol Phylogenet Evol 44 (2): 553-577. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.12.022.
Liu Q, Lin, Zhang DG, Huang ZH, Wang HC, Yang J, Tojibaev K, Deng T, Li ZM. 2021. Trichosanthes sunhangii (Cucurbitaceae), a new species from Hubei, China. Phytotaxa 479 (3): 287-294. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.479.3. 5.
Nurbaiti, Roslim DI, Herman. 2025. A DNA barcoding multilocus analysis in the Cucurbitaceae family. Jurnal Biologi Tropis 25 (2): 1221-1230. https://doi.org/10.29303/jbt.v25i2.8702.
Plants of the World Online (POWO). 2025. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org.
Pratami MP, Chikmawati T, Rugayah. 2019. Catatan baru Gymnopetalum scabrum (Lour.) W.J.de Wilde and Duyfjes untuk Borneo. Floribunda 6 (3): 93-94. https://doi.org/10.32556/floribunda.v6i3.2019.292. [Indonesian]
Rugayah, de Wilde WJJO. 1999. Conspectus of Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae) in Malesia. Reinwardtia 11 (4): 227-280.
Rugayah. 2002. Leaf anatomy of Trichosanthes tricuspidata and its relative from Java. Floribunda 2 (2): 46-49. https://doi.org/10.32556/floribunda.v2i1-8.2002.41.
Sakamoto T, Ikematsu S, Namie K, Hou H, Li G, Kimura S. 2022. Leaf cells' morphology alternation as a response to environmental signals in Rorippa aquatica. Intl J Mol Sci 23 (18): 10401. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms231810401.
Sass JE. 1951. Botanical Microtechnique. The Iowa State College Press, Iowa. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.5706.