Bupleurum gracillimum Klotzsch (1862: 148)

Pimenov, Michael G. & Kljuykov, Eugene V., 2015, A new species of Bupleurum (Umbelliferae) from Badakhshan, with notes on and a key to the alpine species of High Asia, Phytotaxa 226 (3), pp. 245-252 : 247-248

3. Bupleurum gracillimum Klotzsch (1862: 148) ( Figs. 2c , 3b ).

Basionym: Bupleurum falcatum L. (1753: 237) var. gracillimum ( Klotzsch 1862: 148) H. Wolff (1910: 132) . Type:— INDIA. In Himalaya, Hoffmeister, s.n. (not traced).

Procumbent herbs; main stem short,> 2mm in diam., branched at the base; leaves basal and cauline, linear, remarkably broadened at the base, amplexicaul; bracts 2–5, linear; rays (2)3(5), filiform, 1–3 cm long; bracteoles 6–9, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, equal or shorter than umbellets; petals yellow; stylopods almost black; fruits 3–5 mm long, 1.5 mm broad; vallecular vittae 3 per furrow, commissural 4–6.

Distribution:— China (Tibet: Xizang A.R.), Nepal, India (W Himalaya: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh); Pakistan, Afghanistan (NE).

Notes:—According to some authors, the species is distributed easternmost, up to SW China. Li Yin & Sheh Menglan (1979) and Sheh Menglan & Watson (2005) listed the species for Sichuan, but the plant, pictured in Li Yin & Sheh Menglan (1979: Fig 141) is not B. gracillimum Klotsch , but rather B. gracilipes Diels (1901: 493) . Sheh Menglan & Watson (2005) indicate that the latter is a “poorly known taxon recorded only from few collections”, but we have found it be rather frequent in Sichuan, where we collected it several times. The indication of B. gracillimum for Bhutan (Mukherjee & Constance 1999; Watson 1999), as well as for Sikkim and Myanmar, is doubtful; however we have no reliable material of related Bupleurum species from these countries.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Fruit of Bupleurum pamiricum, in lateral (A) and dorsal view (B), as well as B. gracillimum in dorsal view (C): Vouchers:A & B = Pimenov et al. 1812 (MW); C = Pimenov & Kljuykov 139 (MW). Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Transverse sections through the mericarps of Bupleurum pamiricum (a) and B. gracillimum (b). Vouchers: A = Pimenov et al. 1812 (MW); B = Pimenov & Kljuykov 139 (MW). 1’: exocarp, 2’: mesocarp, 3’: vascular bundles, 4’: secretory ducts (vittae), 5’: rib secretory duct, 6’: endosperm. Scale bar = 1 mm.