ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Systematics and Evolution
A revision of the genus Beesia (Ranunculaceae) as informed through integrative taxonomy, with description of a new species from Sichuan (China)
Provisionally accepted
Andrey Erst1*
Elizaveta Yu. Mitrenina2*
Denis A. Krivenko3Tatyana V. Erst4Yulia V. Cheldysheva5Igor V. Gorbenko3
Renata Borosova6Lian Lian7Yuan-Yuan Ling7Huan-Wen Peng7Jun Zhang7
Shukherdorj Baasanmunkh8Hyeok Jae Choi8
Ivan V. Tatanov9Alexander A. Kuznetsov2Mathew T. Sharples10
Kunli Xiang7*- 1Central Siberian Botanical Garden (RAS), Novosibirsk, Russia
- 2Nacional'nyj issledovatel'skij Tomskij gosudarstvennyj universitet, Tomsk, Russia
- 3FGBUN Sibirskij institut fiziologii i biohimii rastenij Sibirskogo otdelenia Rossijskoj akademii nauk, Irkutsk, Russia
- 4FIC Institut citologii i genetiki Sibirskogo otdelenia Rossijskoj akademii nauk, Novosibirsk, Russia
- 5Central'nyj sibirskij botaniceskij sad Sibirskogo otdelenia Rossijskoj akademii nauk, Novosibirsk, Russia
- 6Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
- 7Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany, Beijing, China
- 8Changwon National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea
- 9FGBUN Botaniceskij institut imeni V L Komarova Rossijskoj akademii nauk, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- 10Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, United States
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Taxonomic diversity at different levels of organization is determined by different levels of biological diversity, including morphological, phylogenetic (genetic or/and genomic), and cytogenetic differences. Here, we integrate taxonomic, phylogenetic, and cytogenetic data to better understand species delimitation and taxonomy within the small, eastern Asiatic genus Beesia (Ranunculaceae). This integrative taxonomic approach enabled delimitation of a new cryptic species from Sichuan (China): Beesia yangii Erst & K.L. Xiang. In addition, suitable lectotypes for Cimicifuga calthifolia Maxim. ex Oliv., Beesia cordata Balf.f. & W.W.Sm. and Beesia elongata Hand.-Mazz. are here designated. Our study helps demonstrate how broader application of integrative approaches in systematic biology may both better inform recognition of previously undiscovered taxonomic diversity and better inform outlines for conservation of biodiversity.
Keywords: Beesia, China, Genome, Karyotype, Integrative taxonomy, new species, phylogeny, Ranunculaceae
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Erst, Mitrenina, Krivenko, Erst, Cheldysheva, Gorbenko, Borosova, Lian, Ling, Peng, Zhang, Baasanmunkh, Choi, Tatanov, Kuznetsov, Sharples and Xiang. 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:
Andrey Erst
Elizaveta Yu. Mitrenina
Kunli Xiang
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