Disporopsis bodinieri (H.Lév.) Floden 2015

Floden Tenn, Aaron J., 2015, A new Disporopsis (Asparagaceae) transferred from Polygonatum, Phytotaxa 222 (2), pp. 159-161 : 159-160

Disporopsis bodinieri (H.Lév.) Floden comb. nov.

Bas.: Polygonatum bodinieri Léveillé (1903: 262) . Type (lectotype, designated here):— CHINA. Kouy-Tcheou [Guizhou] ; Environs de Kouy-yang. Mont du Collège. Montagne de Lou-tsang-Koan, à l’entrée de la grotte de Ke-matong, 26 May 1898, R.P. Bodinier 1597 bis (lectotype, P00687145!, isolectotype, PE00136451!) .

= Disporopsis fansipanensis J.M.H.Shaw, B.Wynn-Jones & V.D.Nguyen in Shaw (2013: 27). Type:— VIETNAM. Lao Cai, BSWJ 12277, northern Vietnam, Fan-si-pan, 3000 m on ridges (holotype WSY!).

Chromosome number:—2n = 2x = 40 ( Fig. 1 ).

Distribution:— China (Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan) and Vietnam (Lai Chau, Lao Cai). The distribution of this species follows an arc along the southern edge of the Yungui Plateau from northern Vietnam through Yunnan and into NW Guangxi and into Guizhou around Guyiang. It is uncommon to rare at higher elevations.

Specimens examined:— CHINA. s.l., 1914, M. Cavalerie s.n. (P00038286!); Guangxi: [24.6812301, 105.334 6717], 22 September 1983, J.Y. Liang 1249 (IBK 00195507!); Guizhou: s.l., s. coll. 50873 (PE 00136331!); Lou Tsong Koan (1500), à l’entrée de la grotte de la grenouille, endroits toujours humides et ne voyant presque pas le soleil, endroits toujours humides et ne voyant presque pas le soleil, 1 June 1897, Em. Bodinier 1597 (P00687144!, P0038287!, PE00136332!); Yunnan: s.l., Delavay 4996 (PE 00136345!); Mengze, N Mts., 6000 ft., A. Henry 9387 (MO!, NY!); Songming Xian, ca. 48.5 km N of Kunming. Moist ravines and drier slopes with remnant broad-leaved evergreen, Keteleeria , Pinus forest. Elevation ca. 2100 m., 25°22N, 102°45, on moist stream banks, 28 July 1984, 1984 Sino-Amer. Bot. Exped. No 1390 (NY!); VIETNAM. Lai Chau Province, Tam Duong Distr., Ho Thau Comm. Ho Thau village, 22.422222, 103.603611, 7 Dec 2006, N. T. Hiep, L. V. Averyanov, and P. V. HAL10445 (MO!); Lao Cai Province, Fanxipu, 2800 m near peak in stunted cloud forest on mossy rocks, 28 October 2011, A. Floden, T. Mitchell, and B. Wynn-Jones 1868 (TENN!); Silver Waterfall, 22°23’10.82”N, 103°45’19.01”E, seepy slope, on rocks, rare; ca. 2400 m, 10 November 2011, A. Floden, T. Mitchell, and B. Wynn-Jones 1924 (TENN!).

Taxonomic relationships:—Many of the specimens of Disporopsis bodinieri cited above bear the annotation “ D. fusco-picta Hance ” by Wang & Tang and these plants do share the presence of a moniliform rhizome and relatively large perigone of that species. Initially, my morphological examinations suggested that D. bodinieri was synonymous with D. fuscopicta Hance (1883: 278) and not with D. pernyi , the latter of which has a long terete rhizome and shorter perigone lobes without any maculation on either surface of the tepals. Nonetheless, field observation in Vietnam and molecular comparison of the nuclear ribosomal ITS (unpublished data) supports D. bodinieri as distinct from the more eastern D. fuscopicta which does not occur in western Guangxi or Guizhou, nor is it documented from Sichuan or Yunnan. Also, the structure of the rhizome differs from the thick moniliform rhizome of D. fuscopicta in that each segment of the rhizome is somewhat tear-drop shaped with a pointed and curved, but truncate apex. The leaf shape of D. bodinieri is lanceolate and usually has undulate margins whereas D. fuscopicta has ovate leaves and is usually not undulate, though some specimens are distinctly undulate. Additional observations of morphology of D. bodinieri were not fully enumerated by Shaw (2013). He did not provide a petiole length in his description, but my own living collections and examined specimens (including the syntypes of D. bodinieri ) show a range of sessile leaves to petioles approaching 1 cm in length. In addition to the petiole characters, Léveillé (1903) noted the obvious cross-veinlets in the leaves of this species, and he also provided a thorough description of the perigone in which he stated the lobes are brown-purple maculate on both surfaces. The images provided by Shaw (2013) and observations of my own cultivated plants show both surfaces clearly maculate in dark purple spots (though not all individuals are maculate on the abaxial surface), but the description provided in regards to the corona is lacking details. The color and shape of the perigone lobes appear much like D. fuscopicta though smaller in size (12–15 vs. 15–22 mm). Given the subtle vegetative differences between some species in Disporopsis , delimitation between these is aided by the morphology of the perigone. These characters include whether the lobes are longer than or equal to the tube length, the shape of the lobes, the color (or lack thereof), and the characters of the internal corona-like structure ( Tamura & Ogisu 1998, Liang & Tamura 2000). The corona, which was interpreted by Hua (1892) as an expansion and dilation of the filaments, is six-lobed, and has connectives that extend beyond the anthers. The corona of D. bodinieri is opposite the perigone lobes and the corona lobes are bifid and obtuse unlike the lanceolate 2–3-denticulate lobes of D. fuscopicta ( Liang & Tamura 2000) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Somatic chromosome count of Disporopsis bodinieri from root tips of plants cultivated by the author, 2n = 2x = 40, Floden et al. 1924 (TENN), protocol following Floden (2014).