Reevesia lofouensis Chun & Hsue (1947: 329)

Chen, Xin, Dong, Meng-Die, Deng, Hua-Ge & Li, Qiang, 2024, Resurrection and emended description of Reevesia lofouensis (Malvaceae), Phytotaxa 660 (1), pp. 75-80 : 78-79

Reevesia lofouensis Chun & Hsue (1947: 329)

Type: — CHINA, Guangdong: Lo-Fou Shan (Luofu Shan), Hua-Hsou Tai (Huashou Tai), 24 July 1930, N. K. Chun 41342 (lectotype designated by Feng et al. (2022: 6): IBSC-0058501; isolecotypes: IBSC-0263932!, IBSC-0004174!, IBK-00161740!) .

Description: —Tree up to 13 m tall, 21 cm in DBH. Branchlets yellowish white (fresh and when dried), densely yellowish stellate tomentose. Buds ovoid, densely stellate tomentose. Leaves simple; petiole 1–3.5 cm long, 1.2–2.2 diam., slightly dilated at both ends, densely stellate tomentose when young, glabrescent gradually; blade elliptic or elliptic-oblong, (7–) 10–15 × 3–5.5 cm (ratio length/width: 2.01–3.57), thinly leathery, base unequally cuneate, apex acuminate, margin slightly undulate, both surfaces glabrous or sparsely stellate tomentose at base of midrib when young; midvein raised on both sides, secondary veins 6–8 pairs, flat adaxially, slightly raised abaxially. Inflorescence a panicle, terminal, 6–10 cm diam., densely 80–154-flowered; peduncle 2.5–4.5 cm long, pedicels 1.8–3.5 mm long, both yellowish white stellate puberulent; calyx connation, calyx tube obconical campanulate, 5.5–6.8 mm long, 3.3– 4. 8 mm diam., puberulent; 5-lobed, triangular-ovate, apex acute, 1.8–3.5 × 2.3–3.5 mm, puberulent outside; petals 5, white, yellowish at the lower part, narrowly spatulate, 9.5–11.5 × 2.3–3.1 mm; androgynophore 1.4–2.2 cm long, glabrous; pistil white stellate puberulent. Capsule woody, oblong-pyriform, 5-angled, 2.5–3.8 × 1.5–3.8 cm, apex truncate, densely yellowish brown puberulent ( Fig. 3A ). Seeds 1.5–3.2 cm including wing, wing membranous, light brown, oblong-obtuse ( Fig. 3B ).

Phenology: —Flowering from May to June and fruiting from November to January of next year.

Distribution and habitat: — Reevesia lofouensis is restrict to Guangdong provinces, China. It grows in forests at 248–760 m elevation.

Preliminary conservation status: —With the exception of 11 collections made in 2019 and 2020 by ourselves, and the four gatherings dated between 1930 and 1974, no data are available regarding population sizes or trends of R. lofouensis . We have been able to locate two small populations of R. lofouensis during our field investigation at Luofu Shan, the type locality. However, none was found during our fieldwork. At present, we assign the conservation status of R. lofouensis as “Critically Endangered, CR” following the IUCN Red List Criteria and Categories ( IUCN 2024) for the total number of mature individuals was less than 50.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Fruit (A) and seed (B) morphology of Reevesia lofouensis.