Aspidistra albovillosa T. Ding, B. Pan & C.R. Lin, 2023

Ding, Tao, Pan, Bo & Lin, Chun-Rui, 2023, Aspidistra albovillosa (Asparagaceae), a new species from Guangxi, China, Phytotaxa 620 (3), pp. 244-250 : 245-248

Aspidistra albovillosa T. Ding, B. Pan & C.R. Lin , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 )

Type: — China. Guangxi, Luizhou City, Luijiang District, Luoman Town , Qiaomu Village , in the crevices of the stones on shady, at the foot of the limestone hill, not common, 109°11’ E, 24°22’ N, alt. 130 m, 27 April 2023, Tao Ding & Bo Pan 2703 (holotype: IBK!, Isotype: IBK!) .

Diagnosis: —The new species is morphologically similar to A. ovatifolia , but clearly distinguished by its perianth lobes basely with purplish red appendages, which sometimes white and slightly rolled upwards at apex, tube adaxially densely with white villous, stigma slightly undulate and 6 (or 8) lobed at margin.

Herbs perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, subterete, 6–8 mm thick, covered with scales, nodes dense. Roots numerous. Vagina leaves 4–5, purple-red, 1–10 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, becoming blackbrown when dry. Leaves solitary, ca. 1cm apart; petiole stiff, upright, 12–24 cm long, 2–3 mm thick, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade broad ovate to ovate, 14–17 cm long, 8–13 cm wide, dark green, base cordate to suborbicular, abruptly narrow into petiole, inequilateral, apex cuspidate to acuminate, margin entire. Peduncle decumbent, pale green slightly with purplish red spots, 2–4 cm long, with 4–5 bracts, terminal 1 or 2 close to flower; the bracts at the base of perianth broadly ovate, white with purple spots, ca. 8–10 mm long, 10–12 mm wide, apex subobtuse. Flowers solitary at the top of the peduncle; perianth urceolate, fleshy, slightly 6 (or 8) lobed apically; lobes suberect, triangular, 2–3 mm long and 2–4 mm wide at base, abaxially whitish and slightly purplish mottled, adaxially pale yellow, densely with purplish red speckles at base, each lobe basally with an adaxial, purplish red, toothlike appendage, ca. 2 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, apex with 2–3 denticulate, and sometimes white, slightly rolled upwards, appendages protruding horizontally or obliquely over tube opening and reducing the opening to 2–4 mm; tube 8–10 mm long, greatest 12–15 mm in diam., abaxially white and sometimes slightly with purplish red spots, adaxially deep purple to nearly purplish black, densely white villous. Stamens 6 (or 8), opposite to lobes, inserted at ca. 2mm from the base of perianth tube, positioned conspicuously lower than stigma; anther subsessile, ovate, ca. 2 mm long and ca. 1 mm wide, pollen yellow; Pistil 7–8 mm long, ovary indistinct, style cylindrical, ca. 2 mm long, stigma peltate, enlarge, round, 10–12 cm in diam., 5–6 mm high, upper surface yellow to yellowish white, glabrous, the central part slightly convex with 3 or 4 radial, 2–3 forks lines, slightly undulate and 6 (or 8) lobed at margin, lower surface dark purplish red, with 12 (or 16), alternating large and small longitudinal ribs. Flowering from April to May.

Etymology:— The specific epithet ‘ albovillosa ’ is derived from the perianth tube adaxially densely with white villous. The Chinese name is given as ‘ ǝfflÑṞffifi ’(Chinese pinyin: bái máo zhî zhű bào dàn).

Distribution and ecology: — Aspidistra albovillosa is currently only known from the type locality in Luijiang District, central Guangxi, China. It grows under broad-leaved evergreen forests, in shaded rocky limestone slopes at elevation range of 120– 240 m. Living plants introduced from the type locality are currently cultivated in Guilin Botanical Garden of Guangxi Institute of Botany.

Conservation status: — In the field investigations, Aspidistra albovillosa was only found from the type locality with one populations with about 80 individuals. All discovered individuals were occurring in the natural scenic spot, where the habitat was in good condition. The further detailed investigation of the same habitats is also needed to give a better understanding of its natural distribution and abundance, and the status of new species is currently considered as Data Deficient ( DD), following the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria ( IUCN 2022) .

Similar species:— Aspidistra albovillosa is similar to A. ovatifolia Yan Liu & C. R. Lin in Lin et al. (2014: 287, Fig. 3 ) in the urceolate perianth and ovate leaf blade, but differs by the widerleaf blades (8–13 cm vs. 6–9.5 cm wide), the purplish red (vs. pure white) and slightly rolled upwards at apex (vs. flat) appendages at the base of the perianth lobes, surface of the perianth tube (adaxially densely villous vs. with 8 longitudinal grooves), thre ovate (vs. oblong) anther, structure of the stigma (margin slightly undulate and 6 (or 8) lobed vs. margin bent upwards, with 16 longitudinal ribs). A detailed morphological comparison between the two species is provided in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aspidistra albovillosa sp. nov.: (A) flowering plant; (B) flower, lateral view; (C) flower, apical view; (D) flower, dissected opened to show pistil and stamens; (E) stigma, abaxial view (6-merous); (F) pistil; (G) stigma, apical view (8-merous); (H) stigma, apical view (6-merous). (Drawn by Qiu-Lan Lv).

FIGURE 2. Aspidistra albovillosa sp. nov.: (A) habit; (B) flowering plant; (C) flower, dissected opened to show pistil and stamens; (D) flower, lateral view; (E) stigma, apical view (8-merous); (F) stigma, apical view (6-merous); (G) apical view of flower with 6 lobes; (H) pistil; (I) stigma, abaxial view; (J) apical view of flower with 8 lobes.

FIGURE 3. Aspidistra ovatifolia: (A) habit; (B) flower, lateral view; (C) flower, apical view; (D) flower, dissected opened to show pistil and stamens; (E) pistil; (F) stigma, apical view; (G) stigma, apical view.