Seven sterile and young specimens of Panax sp. were collected in Phu Xai Lai Leng silicat mountain, the highest mountain peak in central Vietnam. Morphologically, they resemble P. stipuleanatus and P. bipinnatifidus. However, they have stipules and leaflets that are not bipinnatifid. | CHI SINHcharacteristics HOC 2014, 36(4): 494-499 Morphological TAP and molecular of Panax sp. DOI: MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF Panax sp. (Araliaceae) FROM PHU XAI LAI LENG MOUNTAIN, NGHE AN PROVINCE, VIETNAM Phan Ke Long1*, Tran Thi Viet Thanh1, Nguyen Thien Tao1, Phan Ke Loc2, Nguyen Tu Lenh3, Nguyen Tien Lam3, Dang Xuan Minh3 1 Vietnam National Museum of Nature, VAST, *pklong@ 2 Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University 3 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An Province ABSTRACT: Seven sterile and young specimens of Panax sp. were collected in Phu Xai Lai Leng silicat mountain, the highest mountain peak in central Vietnam. Morphologically, they resemble P. stipuleanatus and P. bipinnatifidus. However, they have stipules and leaflets that are not bipinnatifid. The ITS-DNA sequences of Panax sp. from Phu Xai Lai Leng are identical and exhibit a close relationship with P. stipuleanatus from Tam Duong district, Lai Chau province with strong bootstrap support (98%). Noticeably, these two taxa are different by 2 nucleotides. A collection of standard specimens including inflorescence, infructescence, flowers and ripe fruits of Panax from Phu Xai Lai Leng is needed to determine its taxonomic status. Keywords: Panax, ITS-rDNA, morphology, Phu Xai Lai Leng silicate mountain. INTRODUCTION In the world, the genus Panax comprises 6 species distributing in North America and East Asia [5, 6]. The Plant List included 12 valid species of Panax [8]. In China, 6-7 species Panax are recognized [9]. In Vietnam, this genus consists of three known [1, 2, 3, 4], namely, P. bipinnatifidus Seem., P. stipuleanatus and P. vietnamensis. The occurrence of three other species, namely, P. pseudoginseng [9], P. zingiberensis and P. notoginseng [9] are doubtful and should be confirmed by voucher specimens. During a recent survey of Panax plants on the north-eastern slope of Phu Xai Lai Leng mountain,
