ITS dataset for Sumacoa (Gesneriaceae), an arborescent new genus from the Eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador

A new neotropical genus, Sumacoa, with a single species, S. barbata J. L. Clark & D. A. Neill, is described from the Cordillera del Cóndor, Cordillera Galeras, and eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador and is placed in the family Gesneriaceae and tribe Beslerieae. The placement of Sumacoa in the tribe Beslerieae is strongly supported by molecular sequence data generated from analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS). Sequence data were evaluated from 34 taxa representing all genera from the tribes Beslerieae and Napeantheae. Sumacoa is characterized by the following unique combination of relatively uncommon characters in the Gesneriaceae: arborescent habit, a tardily dehiscent globose bivalved capsule, and elongate multicellular trichomes clustered apically in the throat. Sumacoa is endemic to the provinces of Napo and Morona-Santiago and in lower montane cloud forest from the Cordillera del Cóndor and Cordillera Galeras at 1200–1800 m elevation, as..., DNA Extraction, Amplification, and Sequencing—All the tissue samples included in the analysis were collected in the field and dried in silica gel. Leaf samples were ground using a ThermSavant FastPrep FP120 cell disrupter (Qbiogene, Carlsbad, California). DNA was isolated using the Qiagen DNeasyTM DNA isolation kit (Qiagen, Valencia, California). 
Templates of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) were prepared using the primers ITS5HP (5’ –GGA AGG AGA AGT CGT AAC AAG G-3’; Suh et al. 1993) and ITS4 (5’ –TCC TCC GCT TAT TGA TAT GC-3’; White et al. 1990). 
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications followed the procedures described by Baldwin et al. (1995) utilizing Taq DNA polymerase (Promega, Madison, Wisconsin). To reduce within-strand base pairing that can result in interference with Taq polymerase activity, we found it essential to use 5% DMSO and 5% BSA in PCR reactions for ITS. The PCR products were electrophoresed..., , # ITS dataset for *Sumacoa* (Gesneriaceae), an arborescent new genus from the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z08kprrq7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z08kprrq7)

## Description of the data and file structure

***DNA Sequencing and Alignment***—The ITS region produced overlapping fragments that collectively covered the entire spacer and 5.8S rDNA regions along both strands. The aligned ITS data matrix was 688 base pairs (bp) long with 373 (54%) variable sites, of which 268 (39%) were parsimony informative. The two outgroups of the analysis contributed 16 of the 268 parsimony informative characters. There were no ambiguously aligned sites excluded from the analysis.
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