Asian Blueberry Project

Hot off the press!

🌿 New Species Alert!

We’re thrilled to announce the discovery and official publication of Rigiolepis bungeputih, sp. nov., a new blueberry relative from Gayo Plateau, Sumatra, Indonesia🍃

Rigiolepis bungeputih is the second endemic species of Rigiolepis in Sumatra, It bears morphological resemblance with R. gayoensis; however, it is distinct by having a smooth stem, larger leaves, smooth pedicels, white flowers, and larger stamens. Additionally, we provide a taxonomic key and a discussion on the pseudo-10-locular o***y of Rigiolepis as we have observed from our recent fieldwork 🔍

The name (epithet) “bungeputih” is derived from the Gayonese words “bunge” (flowers) and “putih” (white), as exhibited by the white corolla of the species. The discovery of R. bungeputih raises the number of Rigiolepis species found in Sumatra to four.

This discovery is a product of a fruitful collaboration among researchers from Universitas Samudra (Indonesia), Texas Christian University (USA), and the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (USA). Thanks Wendy Achmmad Mustaqim, Zulfan Arico, and Dr. Peter Fritsch for this wonderful collaboration.

The paper is open access, read it here: https://tinyurl.com/mu9abwvh
https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/TEL/login

I’m excited to share our latest publication on the discovery of two new tropical blueberry species from the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. A heartfelt thanks to the Sabah Biodiversity Centre and all FRC researchers and staff, with special appreciation to Dr. Joan Teresa Pereira for her warm hospitality during my visit to the Sandakan Herbarium.

Cheers to more exciting publications ahead!

Hey everyone! I'm happy to announce that my personal website is now live! I will soon be updating here my recent fieldwork and future publications as part of the Asian blueberry project.

Asian Blueberry Project

Hot off the press! Three new blueberry species from Mindanao Island, Philippines 🇵🇭

We here present three new species of tropical blueberries (Vaccinium L. Ericaceae) endemic to Mindanao Island, Philippines. With these discoveries, the Mindanao islands (Mindanao region, southern Philippines) is now the center of Vaccinium diversity in the country! (higher than Luzon and Visayas regions). Furthermore, the current Vaccinium diversity in the Philippines increases to 44.

Our paper is open access, read it here 👇
Phytotaxa: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.647.1.2
RG: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380397768_Three_new_species_of_Vaccinium_L_Ericaceae_from_Mindanao_Island_Philippines

Visit also my ResearchGate account for similar publications 😃: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maverick-Tamayo

What is a tropical blueberry?

Tropical blueberries belong to the genus Vaccinium and is a member of the diverse plant family Ericaceae. There are approximately 500 blueberry species worldwide except in Antarctica and Australia. Almost half of the diversity of blueberries worldwide are found in tropical Asia (i.e., the Malesian Floristic Region). They mostly inhabit high elevation zones, montane forests, exposed mountain ridges, and nutrient poor (ultramafic) soils. Vaccinium species can be a small shrub, a tree, or pseudo liana. They are mostly terrestrial but can transition as epiphytes in tropical mossy rain forests.

Vaccinium can be easily distinguished in the wild even in their non-flowering stage as they possess leaf marginal glands that can be found either at the base of the leaf blade or distributed along the length of the leaf blade margin. The leaves are usually glossy and are arranged in an alternating fashion. The veins on their leaves are usually pinnate or plinerved (the veins emanate from a single point at the base of the leaf). When flowering, they produce distinct urceolate (urn-like) or conical corollas. Their o***y is always inferior (it rests below the corolla), and their fruit is always a berry. When documenting a Vaccinium in the wild, it is important to capture all these characters and to dissect the flower longitudinally to reveal more details on their stamens.

References:

Argent, G. (2018). Rigiolepis and Vaccinium (Ericaceae) in Borneo. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 76: 55-172.

Sleumer, H. (1967). Ericaceae: In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (Ed.) Flora Malesiana, series 1, volume 6, parts 4 & 5. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, pp. 469-914.

Tamayo, M.N., Coritico, F.P., Amoroso, V.B., Penneys, D.S., Tandang, D.N. & Fritsch, P.W. (2022). Vaccinium carmesinum (Ericaceae), a new species of blueberry from Mt. Tago range, Mindanao Island, Philippines. Phytotaxa 533(3): 173-180.

I had the opportunity to share my research at the Lunchtime Lecture Series of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas last year! I shared here updates of our current work on the taxonomy of the Palawan and Mindanao Vaccinium species. I also discussed the ecology, challenges, and some new species we have so far discovered! You can watch the recorded presentation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEHUiz82kXE

Many thanks to the Botanical Research Institute of Texas for the invitation. My appreciation also goes to the Department of Biology at Texas Christian University, PTI, DENR, CMU, and the funding agencies: NSF, IAPT, and ASPT.

Lunchtime Lecture: Taxonomy of the blueberries (Vaccinium L., Ericaceae) of the Philippines Recording of live event, 01-Nov-2022, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CDT: "Taxonomy of the blueberries (Vaccinium L., Ericaceae) of the Philippines” - A Lunchtime Lectur...