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Thonningia alba (Balanophoraceae), a new root holoparasitic species from Madagascar

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Summary

A new species of Thonningia is described. T. alba is the third species to be recognised in the genus, and the fourth in the family Balanophoraceae from Madagascar. It is apparently endemic to rainforests of the west coast of the Masoala Peninsula. A description, detailed illustrations, taxonomic notes, an identification key to the genus Thonningia, a distribution map and a preliminary assessment of risk extinction for this new species are provided.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Neek Helme for providing the image of the living plant and precious information about the habitat and coordinates. We are immensely thankful to Luana Paula Mauad for her essential help in analysing the collections; to Thiago Fernandes for helping with the construction of the map and also to the curators of the herbaria we consulted, in particular the curators of MO, P and RB.

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  1. Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão, 915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22460-030, Brazil

    Leandro Jorge Telles Cardoso & João Marcelo Alvarenga Braga

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  1. Leandro Jorge Telles Cardoso
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  2. João Marcelo Alvarenga Braga
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Correspondence to Leandro Jorge Telles Cardoso.

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Cardoso, L.J.T., Braga, J.M.A. Thonningia alba (Balanophoraceae), a new root holoparasitic species from Madagascar. Kew Bull 79, 75–82 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-023-10156-2

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