Morphological and molecular evidence elevates Ficus matthewii and Ficus dispersa within the Ficus virens complex

The genus Ficus L. (Moraceae), comprising 881 species across six subgenera, includes Urostigma , a taxonomically complex group characterized by extensive morphological similarity among its species. The Ficus virens complex, a member of this subgenus, remains a comparatively unresolved assemblage of closely allied taxa. In the Western Ghats, this complex encompasses six taxa: F. virens var. virens , F. virens var. matthewii , F. virens var. dispersa , F. caulocarpa , F. superba , and F. middletonii . Phenetic analyses successfully delineated species boundaries within the complex, resolving long-standing taxonomic ambiguities. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the combined ITS and trnH–psbA regions provided enhanced resolution and clearer delimitation among the taxa. The strong congruence between phenetic and molecular evidence reinforced the distinctiveness of each entity, a conclusion additionally supported by bPTP species delimitation analyses. Based on the combined morphological and molecular evidence, F. virens var. matthewii and F. virens var. dispersa warrant elevation to species status as Ficus matthewii and Ficus dispersa , respectively. These species can be reliably distinguished by several key morphological characters, including the length and colour of the basal bracts, ostiolar diameter, length of the outer bracts, attachment and pedicel length of female flowers, and achene morphology