Aspidistra longhuiensis G.W. Hu, Zhi Wang & Q.F. Wang, 2021

Wang, Zhi, Peng, Shuai, Peng, Ying, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2021, Aspidistra longhuiensis (Asparagaceae), a new speices from Hunan, China, Phytotaxa 510 (1), pp. 89-93 : 89-92

Aspidistra longhuiensis G.W. Hu, Zhi Wang & Q.F. Wang , sp. nov. ( Figure 1 )

Type: — CHINA. Hunan, Shaoyang prefecture, Longhui county, Xiyang township , Suheyuanshan village , elev. 450 m, 14 March, 2021, Z.Wang, G.W. Hu HGW-001316 (holotype HIB! , isotypes HIB!, HNNU! , IBK! ).

Perennial evergreen herb, 40−75 cm tall. Rhizome creeping, subterete, covered with scales, 8−15 mm in diameter, with internodes 10−15 mm long. Leaf sheaths 3−5, obvious at leaf bud stage. Foliage leaf fascicled on node of rhizome, (1−)3−5 leaves forming a tuft, leaf clusters 6−35 mm apart, boundaries of lamina and petiole indistinguishable; petiole stiffly erect, adaxial sulcate, swollen at base, ca. 5−10 cm long; lamina dark green, midvein and secondary veins conspicuous, adaxially sunken, linear, 30−60 × 1−2 cm, margin sparsely serrulate above middle, apex acuminate, gradually narrowing toward the base. Peduncle arising from the nodes of apical part of rhizome, 1−10 cm long, white to light green, bracts 3−5, whitish green with small purple spots, triangular-ovate, apex obtuse, 2 or 3 at the base of flower. Flower solitary at the top of peduncle; perigone widely campanulate to bowl-shaped, 1.5−2.2 cm long, inside and outside dark purple, 6−8-lobed, lobes triangularovate, purple with yellowish spots, slightly recurved, subequal, 7–11 mm long, 6–9 mm wide at base, obtuse at apex, and with 2 or 3 keels, the submarginal keels running from middle of lobes to the base of perigone tube, perigone tube 8−11 mm deep, dark purple, adaxial surface sunken directly below each lobe. Stamens 6–8 (matching lobe number), inserted at the bottom of perigone tube and directly below lobes, lower than stigma; filament inconspicuous, ca. 1.5 mm long, 2 mm in diameter; anthers reniform. Pistil mushroom shaped, ca. 7 mm high, near the base of lobes, stigma convex, suborbicular, 11−15 mm in diameter, 3 or 4-lobed, lobe subequal, red-purple at the edge, whitish at the middle; upper surface crevice inapparent, fringed, rough; lower surface crevice obvious, pure white; margin undulate, with 6−8 soft strongly reflexed lobes; ovary 3 or 4 locules. Fruit and seeds unknown. Flowering from March to April.

Distribution and ecology: —The new species is currently known only from type locality in southwestern Hunan, China. It grows in the crevices on a cliff, under evergreen broad-leaved forests, at elevation about 450 m.

Etymology: —The specific epithet ‘longhuiensis’ refers to the type locality in Longhui county, Hunan. The Chinese name is “ µ回¢%抱& ”.

Taxonomic relationships: — Aspidistra longhuiensis is most similar to A. longifolia Hook. f. (1892: 326) and A. hainanensis Chun et How (1977: 533) in leaf shape and arrangement (long linear or sublinear, 2−5 fascicled), purple campanulate perigone tube color and shape (purplish or deep purple), and stamens location (inserted at the base of perigone tube and opposite to perigone lobes). But A. longhuiensis differs from these two allied species by its stigma suborbicular, fringed, red-purple with 3−4 whitish regions, margin undulate, slightly 6−8-lobed, lobes strongly reflexed. Simultaneously, A. longhuiensis also differs from A. hainanensis in its peduncle 1−10 cm (vs. 0.5–1.8 cm), perigone lobes ovate-triangular, 7–11 × 6–9 mm (vs. oblong-ovate, 8–10 × ca. 2 mm), and pistil mushroom-shaped (vs. peltate). The new species also close to A. yingjiangensis L.J. Peng (1989: 173) , but we can distinguish it from A. yingjiangensis by its perigone tube widely campanulate to bowl-shaped (campanulate in A. yingjiangensis , the same below), pistil mushroom shaped, ca. 7 mm high, near the base of lobes (peltate and orbicular, 4–5 mm high, about halfway the tube), stigma red-purple with 3−4 whitish regions, suborbicular, 11−15 mm in diam. (deep purple, orbicular, 5–7 mm in diam.). Moreover, A. longhuiensis resembles A. revoluta H. Zhou, S.R. Yi & Q. Gao (2016: 281) , A. basalis Tillich (2012: 202) and A. leucographa C.R. Lin & C.Y. Zou (2017: 164) in shape and color of perigone (nearly campanulate to bowl-shaped, purple or dark purple), shape of pistil (mushroom shaped), and location of stamens (inserted at the base of perigone tube and opposite to perigone lobes). However, the new species can be distinguished from them by its leaf fascicled, 3−5 leaves forming a tuft; lamina linear, 30−60 × 1−2 cm, sparsely serrulate at middle and distal part; peduncle 1−10 cm long; stigma with 3−4 red-purple inapparent crevice and 3−4 whitish regions in the upper surface, margin undulate, slightly 6−8 lobed. A detailed comparison among the new taxon and its allied species shown in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aspidistra longhuiensis: A. Habitat; B–D. Habit; E, F. Rhizome and roots; G. Individual leaf; H. Leaf apex (adaxial surface); I. Leaf apex (abaxial surface); J. Lateral view of a flower (with bracts); K. Lateral view of a flower (bracts removed); L. Bracts; M. Frontal view of flower (with 8 perigone lobes); N. Frontal view of a flower (with 7 perigone lobes); O. Frontal view of a flower (with 6 perigone lobes); P. Tangential section of flower (half of perigone removed to show stigma); Q. Frontal view of perigone (pistil removed); R. Tangential section of perigone (pistil removed); S, T. Stamens; U. Lateral view of a pistil; V. Upper surface of a stigma (4-lobed); W. Lower surface of a pistil (with 4 locules) X. Upper surface of a stigma (3-lobed); Y. Lower surface of a pistil (with 3 locules).