Onosma wardii (W.W. Smith) Johnston (1951: 215)

He, Yi, Liu, Dan-Hui, Huang, Ti-Ran & Liu, Quan-Ru, 2020, Taxonomic notes on Onosma wardii (Boraginaceae) from Southwestern China, Phytotaxa 433 (4), pp. 277-287 : 285-286

Onosma wardii (W.W. Smith) Johnston (1951: 215) .

Basionym:— Onosma hookeri var. wardii Smith (1916: 113)

Type:— CHINA, Yunnan: Temple, Ka-gwr-pw, Mekong–Salween divide about lat. 28°30’, 13000 ft., 26 July 1913, Ward 902 (holotype: E00712703!; isotype: GH00015205!; paratype: 1914, specimen grown in England from seed, Ward 902, Bees Ltd. E 00712627!)

= Onosma mertensioides Johnston (1951: 353) , syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA, Sichuan: Between Baurong and Tachienlu, via Hadjaha, May–June 1929, Herbert Stevens 483 (holotype: GH00015222!)

= Onosma tenuicaulis Riedl (1962: 244) , syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA, Sichuan: Tongolo, distr. Kiala, 1893, J. A. Soulié 2074 (holotype: G00418679!; isotype: P04037242!)

= Onosma zayuensis Liu (1980: 65) , syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA, Xizang: Chayu, 3300 m, August 1973, Xizang Expedition Team 1290 (holotype: HNWP, not seen)

= Onosma xiangchengensis Wang (2010: 429) , syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA, Sichuan: Vicinity of the town of Reda , Rizhao ShenShan from gorge behind Silong Village , Xiangcheng County, Sichuan, 29° 6′ 9″ N, 99° 40′ 15″ E, 3600–3850 m, 16 July 2004, D. E. Boufford et al. 30767 (holotype: PE02050326 !; isotype: GH00309922!)

Herbs perennial, 15–64 cm tall, arising from a dye–stained taproot, hispid, reflexed–pilose. Stems single, erect, sparsely branched. Basal leaves oblanceolate or linear lanceolate, 5–29 × 0.5–2.3 cm, abaxially densely appressed pubescent, adaxially appressed hispid, hairs discoid at base, base cuneate, apex acuminate or obtuse; stem leaves oblong–lanceolate, 1–11 cm × 2–13 mm, base rounded or broadly cuneate, apex acuminate or obtuse. Inflorescences terminal, solitary or dichotomously branched, gradually racemose, 3.5–16 cm; bracts ovate–lanceolate, 3–30 mm × 1–6 mm, hispid, appressed pubescent. Pedicel 1–17 mm, elongated in fruit, densely yellow or white hispid, appressed pubescent. Calyx 6–23mm, elongated in fruit, hispid, parted nearly to base; lobes linear–lanceolate. Corolla bluepurple, changing to red late in season, tubular–campanulate, 11–24 mm, base ca. 2 mm wide, gradually expanded upwards; throat 5–7 mm wide, densely short appressed pubescent outside, obscurely pubescent inside along veins or glabrous inside; nectary ringlike, ca. 0.5 mm, lobed, pubescent; lobes triangular, 1–1.5 mm, margin revolute. Filaments subulate, 3–6.5 mm, inserted ca. 5 mm above base of corolla tube; anthers united into a tube, 6–9.5 mm, included; apex sterile, 1–1.5 mm. Nutlets gray or brown, ca. 3 mm, shiny, papillate.

Distribution and habitat: — Onosma wardii grows in low shrubs or conifer forest margins. Its elevation ranges from 3,300 to 4,000 m, distributed in W Sichuan, NW Yunnan and SE Xizang, China.

Phenology: —Flowering and fruiting from June to August.

Taxonomic notes: — Onosma wardii is distinct from the other species of Onosma in SW China in having the combination of coherent and included anthers, stout claret–colored taproots, solitary or dichotomously branched cymes, shiny and papillate nutlets without footed–hilum. The size of basal leaves and density of indumentum varies among different habitats. O. wardii is morphologically most closely related to O. conferta in having coherent and included anthers, well-developed basal leaves and taproots, but the latter’s cyme branches into a spreading or crowded panicle (not racemose) with deep red flowers.

Ethnobotany: — Onosma wardii is used by local Tibetans as red plant–dye in religious ritual. They add claret roots into yak butter to imitate animal’s blood in order to avoid killing because of Tibetan Buddhism.

Additional specimens examined: — China. Sichuan: Xiangcheng, 20 July 2010, Kham Expedition , 10- 0285 ( PE01875942 ) ; Xiangcheng, 22 July 2018, Yi He & Ti-ran Huang, BNU2018SC206 ( BNU) ; Xiangcheng, 12 August 1981, Qinghai-Tibet Expediton Team, 4747 ( PE01133216 ) ; Daofu, 10 June 1991, Jing-sheng Yang, 91- 268 ( PE1550635 ; KUN0310212 ) ; Daofu, 1 July 1940, K. L. Chu,7238 ( PE01354708 ; NAS00213743 ) ; Daofu, 10 September 1934, Harry Smith, 12002 ( PE01361385 ) ; Daofu, 12 July 1930, Kai Huang et al., 00955 ( WUK0316593 ; KUN0309897 ) ; Daofu, 06 August 1979, Anonymous 0188 ( SM717100630 ) ; Kangding, 20 June 1959, Sichuan Agricultural College 58, 00178 ( CDBI0119410 ; KUN0307894 ) ; Kangding, 20 June 1959, Sichuan Agricultural College 58, 00176 ( CDBI0119418 ) ; Kangding, 22 June 1959, Sichuan Agricultural College 58, 00232 ( CDBI0119411 ; KUN0307893 ) ; Kangding, 30 June 1951, You-wen Cui, 4196 ( PE01354707 ; KUN0309686 ) ; Kangding, 12 August 1976, Jun-san Yue, 76322 ( NAS00213756 ) ; Kangding, 1891, R. P. Soulié, 210 (P03525141); Kangding, 1892, J. A. Soulié, 498 (P03525140); Daocheng, 28 July 1973, Sichuan Vegetation Investigation Team, 3651 ( CDBI0119433 ; CDBI0119434; CDBI0119435; PE01354706 ; KUN0308931 ) ; Xizang: Chayu, 11 July 2008, X. H. Jin et al., DLJ-ET 1917 ( PE02284844 ) ; Chayu, 12 August 2018, Yi He & Dan-hui Liu, BNU2018YN261 ( BNU) ; Chayu, 6 July 1979, Rong-fu Huang, 460 ( HNWP85011 ) ; Yunnan: Gongshan, 7 July 2008, X. H. Jin et al., DLJ-ET 1540 ( PE02284843 ) ;