Miconia cineana (Melastomataceae: Miconieae), a New Species from the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti, Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence

We describe a new species, Miconia cineana (Melastomataceae: Miconieae), from the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. Although this species has been known from sterile collections since the early 1980s, its phylogenetic position was unknown, although it was presumed to be closely related to species of Pachyanthus s. 1. The phylogenetic reconstruction presented here, based on a recent collection of the species, clearly places M. cineana in a clade comprised of Cuban species of the polyphyletic genera Tetrazygia s. I. and Pachyanthus s. 1. Thus, M. cineana represents the sole Hispaniolan member of an otherwise Cuban clade, and an uncommon biogeographic pattern in melastomes. Miconia cineana, although described here from sterile specimens, is easily distinguished from the other species of this clade using vegetative morphology, as well as phylogenetic placement. This study highlights the utility of molecular data when coupled with morphology, allowing for the discovery of an unrecognized species in a region of high diversity and endemism, i.e. the Massif de la Hotte.