Shuaria (Gesneriaceae), an Arborescent New Genus from the Cordillera del Condor and Amazonian Ecuador

A new neotropical genus, Shuaria, with a single species, S ecuadorica, is described front the Cordillera del Condor and Amazonian regions of southeastern Ecuador and is placed in the family Gesnenaceae, tribe Beslerieae The placement of Shuaria in the tribe Beslerieae is strongly supported by molecular sequence data generated from analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), and the chloroplast DNA trnL, intron, trnL-trnF intergenic space region Sequence data were generated for 33 species representing most of the generic diversity from the tribes Beslerieae and Napeantheae Shuaria is characterized by unique combination of relatively uncommon characters in the Gesnenaceae arborescent habit, opposite leaf arrangement sometimes interrupted by alternate leaves, lepidote trichomes on vegetative and floral structures, small white flowers with a dorsal gibbosity at the base of the corolla tube, and a bivalved septicidally dehiscent capsule The suite of uncommon characters initially made Shuaria difficult to place in the Gesneriaceae and within a known tribe Shuaria is restricted to the Ecuadorian provinces of Pastaza, Morona-Santiago, and Zamora-Chinchipe in lowland Amazonian tropical wet forest and in lower montane cloud forest on the western slopes of the Cordillera del Condor A key and a table are presented for differentiating Shuaria from other related genera