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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Systematics and Evolution

Delimiting Species Boundaries in Hosta section Capitatae (Asparagaceae) Using MIG-seq and Morphological Analyses: Taxonomic Revision with New Taxa from Korea and Japan

Provisionally accepted
Ami OhAmi Oh1,2Ji Young YangJi Young Yang3Won Seok LeeWon Seok Lee2Takashi ShigaTakashi Shiga4Seiko FujiiSeiko Fujii5Shota SakaguchiShota Sakaguchi6Shukherdorj BaasanmunkhShukherdorj Baasanmunkh2Seung-Chul KimSeung-Chul Kim3*Hyeok Jae ChoiHyeok Jae Choi2*
  • 1Korea National Arboretum, Pocheon-si, Republic of Korea
  • 2Changwon National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea
  • 3Sungkyunkwan University College of Science, Suwon-si, Republic of Korea
  • 4Niigata Daigaku, Niigata, Japan
  • 5Kochi Kenritsu Makino Shokubutsuen, Kochi, Japan
  • 6Kyoto Daigaku, Kyoto, Japan

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The genus Hosta Tratt. (Asparagaceae), with approximately 22–45 species reported to date, is native to Korea, Japan, China, and the Russian Far East. The present study provides a complete taxonomic revision of the section Capitatae in Korea and Japan based on extensive morphological observations and multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeats genotyping by sequencing (MIG-seq) analysis. We identified three species and two varieties in this section. In particular, we described two new taxa, H. pseudonakaiana sp. nov. and H. nakaiana var. wandoensis var. nov., from Japan (Shikoku) and Korea (southern Jeollanam-do), respectively. The new species is morphologically similar to H. capitata in that it has compact spike-like racemes and a ridged scape, but is readily distinguished from it by a narrower leaf, fewer flowers, and lanceolate perianth lobes. The new variety is morphologically similar to H. nakaiana var. nakaiana in most traits, but differs from it by a longer, looser, spike-like inflorescence, more flowers, and earlier flowering. Phylogenetic and population structure analyses based on MIG-seq supported the establishment of two new taxa in the section Capitatae.

Keywords: Capitatae, H. nakaiana var. wandoensis, Hosta, Hosta pseudonakaiana, MIG-seq, morphology, new species, population structure

Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Oh, Yang, Lee, Shiga, Fujii, Sakaguchi, Baasanmunkh, Kim and Choi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Seung-Chul Kim
Hyeok Jae Choi

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Supplementary Material