Dubyaea is a genus of about 15 species belonging to Asteraceae tribe Cichorieae subtribe Crepidinae. All species of Dubyaea are distributed in the Pan Himalayan region and its adjacent areas. Stebbins once believed that the genus Dubyaea had ancestral groups of some widely distributed genera of tribe Cichorieae. Based on molecular phylogenetic studies (including ITS sequence and five chloroplast gene fragments), combined with cytological and morphological evidence, Dr. CHRN Yousheng’s team from South Botanical Gradens of Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that Dubyaea is not a natural monophyletic group. Most of the species belong to the subtribe Crepidinae with chromosome number of 2n=16, but two species with blue flowers belong to the subtribe Lactucinae with chromosome number of 2n=18. These two species (Dubyaea gombalana and Dubyaea amoena) are mainly distributed in Gaoligong Mountain area. They are perennial and nearly stemless herbs with basal leaves, blue flowers, columnar achenes with indistinct longitudinal ribs and brown pappus. They form a unique group. Based on sufficient evidence, CHRN Yousheng's team published a new genus of Asteraceae, Lihengia, in memory of Professor LI Heng who made important contributions to the study of plant diversity in Gaoligong Mountain.

The related papers, entitled “Lihengia: a new genus of Asteraceae distinct from Dubyaea”, has been recently published in TAXON. For further reading, please refer to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tax.12428.

Figure. Lihengia amoena (A, B, C) and L. gombalana (D, E)