Journal of Plant Research

, Volume 129, Issue 4, pp 591–601 | Cite as

Morphological and phylogenetic investigations for several cryptic ant-plants found in Callicarpa (Lamiaceae) from Borneo

  • Shota Nakashima
  • Emma Sarath
  • Hiroshi Okada
  • Kazune Ezaki
  • Dedy Darnaedi
  • Hirokazu Tsukaya
  • Akiko Soejima
Regular Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

A tropical small tree, Callicarpa saccata, is known to have a symbiotic relationship with ants. It has sac-like structures at the base of the leaves that are inhabited by ants. No other species has been determined to be a myrmecophyte among the ca. 140 species of this genus. However, our recent field investigation discovered that two other species on Borneo (C. barbata and C. teneriflora) have hollow stems, which seem to be inhabited by ants. We observed the morphological features of these species in relation to their usage by ants, and became convinced that they are mymecophytic species. The molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS and chloroplast regions suggest that C. saccata and C. teneriflora are closely related, but the differences in the myrmecophytic features of these species should be noted.

Keywords

Ant-plant Borneo Callicarpa Coevolution Myrmecophyte Phylogeny 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Secretariat of Permission for Foreign Research, the Ministry of Research and Technology, Republic of Indonesia (RISTEK), who kindly gave permission for the field research in West Kalimantan, and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) and the Betung Kerihun National Park office, for kindly allowing this study to take place in Betung Kerihun National Park, West Kalimantan. We also thank Dr. Marlina Ardiyani and Mr. Ujang Hapid of Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), Mustarrudin, Suherman, Jon, Anong, Mazid, and Eddy for helping to conduct the botanical surveys during the expedition. We are grateful to Dr. Shingo Hosoishi of Kyushu University for doing elaborate identification of the ant specimens. A part of this study was supported by the Mitsubishi Foundation, MEXT/JSPS (Grants-in-Aid for Creative Scientific Research; Scientific Research on Innovative Areas) to H. T.

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Copyright information

© The Botanical Society of Japan and Springer Japan 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Shota Nakashima
    • 1
  • Emma Sarath
    • 2
  • Hiroshi Okada
    • 3
    • 4
  • Kazune Ezaki
    • 2
  • Dedy Darnaedi
    • 5
  • Hirokazu Tsukaya
    • 2
    • 6
  • Akiko Soejima
    • 1
  1. 1.Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science and TechnologyKumamoto UniversityKumamotoJapan
  2. 2.Graduate School of ScienceThe Univesity of TokyoTokyoJapan
  3. 3.Graduate School of ScienceOsaka City UniversityOsakaJapan
  4. 4.Institute of Natural Environmental SciencesHyogo Prefectural UniversitySandaJapan
  5. 5.Herbarium BogorienseResearch Center for Biology-LIPIBogorIndonesia
  6. 6.Bio-Next Project, Okazaki Institute for Integrative BioscienceNational Institutes of Natural SciencesOkazakiJapan

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