Flemingia mengpengensis Y.T.Wei & S.K.Lee (1985: 167)

Do, Truong Van & Gao, Xin-Fen, 2020, Taxonomic revision of the genus Flemingia (Leguminosae) from Indo-Chinese floristic region, Phytotaxa 429 (1), pp. 1-38 : 35-36

24. Flemingia mengpengensis Y.T.Wei & S.K.Lee (1985: 167) . Type:— CHINA. Yunnan: Mengpeng , 22 January 1952, K.M.Feng 14455 (Holotype, KUN; isotype, PE-00379725!)

Shrubs, erect, ca. 1–1.5 m tall. Branchlets distinctly triangular, robust, densely adpressed villous. Petiole 5–13 cm long, wingless, adpressed villous; petiolules 5–7 mm long, densely hirsute. Stipules lanceolate, 1.5–2 cm long, densely adpressed villous, caducous. Leaves digitately 3-foliolate; terminal leaflet broadly elliptic to lanceolate, 11–19 cm long, 6–8 cm wide, papery, adaxial surface sparsely hairy, abaxial surfaces densely adpressed villous with densely black sessile glands; basal veins 3, lateral veins 7–13 pairs, base rounded, truncate to broadly cuneate, apex acuminate, with slender mucro; lateral leaflets smaller, obliquely lanceolate to obliquely elliptic. Inflorescence racemose, axillary, in clusters of 3–6 racemes, inflorescence axes ca. 3 cm long, much shorter than the petioles, densely villous; peduncle subsessile or absent. Flowers densely clustered; bracteoles ovate to ovate-elliptic, 4–5 mm long, densely villous, caducous; pedicel 2–4 mm long, densely villous. Calyx (–12) 15–17 mm long, densely hirsute; tube ca. 4–6 mm long; lobes linear-lanceolate, lower one longest. Corolla purple, subequal to calyx; standard suborbicular, clawed, auriculate; wings similar to standard, ca. 11–12 mm long, clawed, one with auricle; keel subobovate, long clawed, apex obtuse. Ovary elliptic, pubescent; style linear, glabrous. Pods obliquely elliptic, 12–14 mm long, 6–7 mm diam., apex shortly beaked, curved. Seeds 1 or 2, black, orbicular.

Iconography citation: —Wang & Wei (1985: 168), figure 6.

Ecology and phenology: — Flemingia mengpengensis grows in mixed forest, secondary forest with natural bamboo, along stream, at 100– 600 m. Flowering from December to January, and fruiting from February to March.

Distribution: — China and new to Myanmar.

Notes: —Beside the similarities to F. brevipes Craib as the above mention, F. mengpengensis also resembles F. macrophylla by sharing elliptic to lanceolate leaves, unwinged petiole, axillary infloresences with cluster of 3–5 racemes, and inflorescence axis shorter than the petiole with dense flowers. It is, however, distinguishable from the latter in having leaf blade are larger; calyx lobes are linear-lanceolate, and much longer than the corolla.

Recent examination on the Flemingia collection available from NY herbarium revealed an unidentified specimen collected from Myanmar, T.T.Mu et al. 39 (NY-02648567) ( Figure 13 ) that is characterized by having elliptic to lanceolate leaves, unwinged petiole, axillary infloresences with cluster of 3–5 racemes, inflorescence axis is shorter than the petiole with dense flowers, and linear-lanceolate calyx lobes, as long as pods. Those characters completely match with those of F. mengpengensis . Therefore, that specimen is here identified as F. mengpengensis , a new record for Myanmar.

Representative specimens: — CHINA. Yunnan: Mengla, T.F. Ding & Y.H.Kun 85628 (KUN) ; J.Ma 125 (HITBC); Y.H.Li 12356 (IBSC). MYANMAR. Tanintharyi: Yaphyu , Tanintharyi Nature Reserve, T.T. Mu et al. 39 (NY-02648567) .

Figures

FIGURE 13. Flemingia mengpengensis, a new record for Myanmar (Mu et al. 39 at NY-02648567).