Bredia cordata H. L. Li

Dai, Jin-Hong, Zhong, Zhe, Zhou, Ren-Chao & Liu, Ying, 2025, New taxa and nomenclatural changes in Bredia (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae), PhytoKeys 266, pp. 1-31 : 1-31

Bredia cordata H. L. Li , J. Arnold Arbor. 25: 24. 1944.

Figs 2 , 15 A

≡ Bredia esquirolii var. cordata (H. L. Li) C. Chen , Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 4 (3): 40. 1984.

= Phyllagathis fordii var. micrantha C. Chen , Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 4 (3): 50. 1984, p. p., quoad specim. T. C. Li 4756, F. T. Wang 23533, C. Y. Wu et al. 6307, C. Y. Wu 6325, Z. T. Guan 6154.

= Bredia esquirolii auct. non. (H. Lév.) Lauener, Chen in Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53 (1): 206; Chen et Renner in Fl. China 13: 375.

Type.

China • Sichuan: Ya-an , dense forest shade, 686 m, 30 Jul 1939, C. Y. Chiao 1205 [ holotype: A! ( A 00071982 )] .

Description.

Shrubs 20–50 cm tall, branched. Stems erect, branched, terete, obtusely 4 - sided, densely pubescent with 0.3–1 mm long multiseriate glandular hairs and puberulent with minute uniseriate (spreading or bent) hairs, rarely without multiseriate hairs. Leaves opposite, equal or unequal; petiole 1–8 cm long, pubescent and puberulent as the stem; leaf blade ovate, ovate-elliptic, or oblong-ovate, 2–14 × 1.5–8.2 cm, thin to thick papery, secondary veins 3 on each side of midvein, abaxial surface pale green to purplish, adaxial surface green to dark green, both surfaces puberulent with uniseriate hairs and sparsely strigose with multiseriate hairs or abaxially glabrescent and adaxially sparsely strigose, base cordate, margin serrulate or inconspicuously so with each tooth having a terminal seta, apex acuminate or short acuminate, rarely acute. Inflorescence a terminal cyme, rarely a cymose panicle; peduncle 1–3.5 cm long, indumentum same as the stem, 2–12 - flowered. Flowers bisexual, radial but androecium slightly bilateral, 4 - merous; pedicel 0.7–2 cm long, indumentum same as the stem; hypanthium bell- or funnel-shaped, 4–6 mm long, pubescent with glandular hairs, rarely only puberulent; calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, pubescent with glandular hairs, rarely only puberulent; petals pink to purplish-red, ovate, 6–10 × ca. 6 mm, oblique, abaxially puberulent with minute uniseriate hairs or glabrescent, apex acute; stamens 8 in two whorls, often dimorphic, sometimes isomorphic, the outer whorl of the dimorphic stamens ca. 1.8 cm long, filaments ca. 10 mm long, anthers linear, ca. 7 mm long, curved, connective decurrent, slightly prolonged, the inner whorl of the dimorphic stamens or the isomorphic ca. 1.1 cm long, filaments ca. 6 mm, anthers lanceolate, slightly curved, ca. 5 mm long, forming two ventral lobes and a dorsal tubercule / short spur; ovary half inferior, locules 4, apex with a membranous crown, crown margin denticulate and ciliate with glandular hairs; style ca. 8–12 mm long, basally puberulent. Capsule ca. 6–9 × 5–7 mm, funnel-shaped, with enlarged apical crown; placentation axial, placentas non-thready. Seeds numerous, cuneate.

Phenology.

Flowering June to August, fruiting September to October.

Notes.

Bredia cordata can be readily distinguished from B. esquirolii by the leaf blade having 3 secondary veins (vs. 2) on each side of midvein, smooth petal margin (vs. undulate), linear-lanceolate calyx lobes (vs. broadly ovate to semiorbicular), and often dimorphic stamens (vs. isomorphic). It occurs in Sichuan, northern Guizhou, southern Chongqing, and northeastern Yunnan. Most populations have dimorphic stamens. However, both isomorphic and dimorphic morphs have been recorded in different populations and even within the same population in Sichuan and Chongqing, a rare occurrence in Melastomataceae .

Additional specimen examined.

China. Chongqing Municipality: • Beibei District, S. J. Wang 1231 ( NAS), Sichuan-Guizhou Exped. 260 ( PE), 759 ( PE); • Jiangjin District, Z. Y. Liu 183157 ( PE); • Banan District, Z. Y. Liu 180119 ( PE). Guizhou Province: • Chishui County, M. C. Wang 520381150502008 LY ( GZTM), C. K. Liu CS 9174 ( MUCH); • Xishui County, Bijie Exped. 1695 ( HGAS, KUN, PE). Sichuan Province: • Emeishan County, Z. W. Yao 2558 ( KUN), T. C. Lee 4756 ( KUN), F. T. Wang 23533 ( WUK); • Gulin County, PE-Gulin Exped. 617 ( PE); • Hongya County, Z. W. Wang 477 ( CDBI), W. K. Bao 1241 ( CDBI); • Jiajiang County, Y. Z. Tang et al. s. n. ( CDBI); • Leshan County, Z. T. Guan 6154 ( IBSC, KUN, PE); • Leibo County, Anonymous 574 ( PE); • Pingshan County, Sichuan Econ. Pl. Exped. Yibin Division 753 ( KUN); • Songpan County, W. P. Fang 6024 ( PE); • Tianquan County, W. G. Hu and Z. He 11827 ( PE); • Xuyong County, W. B. Ju and H. N. Deng HGX 13070 ( CDBI). Yunnan Province: • Suijiang County, B. X. Sun et al. 310 ( PE), 534 ( KUN); • Yanjin County, NE Yunnan Exped. 923 ( KUN).

Figures

Figure 2. Bredia cordata. A. Habitat; B. Habit; C, D. Indumentum on the branchlets; E. Leaf shape; F. An inflorescence; G. Intraspecific variation of stamen morphology.

Figure 15. Distribution of the species discussed. A. B. cordata; B. B. esquirolii and B. macrophylla; C. B. fordii, B. micrantha, and B. jiuwanshanensis; D. B. pingshanensis, B. yunnanensis, and B. tuberculata.