Sageretia lucida Merr. in Lingn. Sci. Journ. 7: 314. 1931.

Yang, Yi, Peng, Hua & Sun, Hang, 2021, Taxonomic revision of Sageretia (Rhamnaceae) from China I: identities of S. lucida, S. thea var. cordiformis and S. yunlongensis, with the description of a new species S. ellipsoidea, PhytoKeys 179, pp. 13-28 : 13

Sageretia lucida Merr. in Lingn. Sci. Journ. 7: 314. 1931. Fig. 8

Type material.

China. Guangdong: "Ying Tak, Taai Tsan, Chung Tung" (Yingde City, Taizhen Town, Zhongdong Village), 24 Nov 1926, W.T. Tsang & K.C. Wong 3260 (holotype UC [319815]; isotypes A [00051501], SYS [SYS00095840], US [00094394]).

Description.

Shrubs up to 3 m. Branches alternate, glabrous; second- to fourth-year branches gray to dark gray. Leaves alternate; petioles 6-10 mm, leaf blades leathery, ovate-oblong to oblong, 5-10 × 2.5-4 cm, lateral veins 4-6 pairs, prominent abaxially, impressed adaxially, base sub-rounded to rounded, margin serrulate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences axillary spicate; rachis 5-10 cm. Flowers sessile; sepals triangular-ovate, 1.2-1.5 mm long; petals clawed; stamens as long as petals. Fruits unknown.

Phenology.

Flowering in November; fruits unknown, probably ripening from April to May of the next year.

Distribution and habitat.

The species is endemic to Yingde, Guangdong, China (Fig. 2 ). It probably grows in thickets on limestone mountains at elevation ca. 700 m.

Note.

Sageretia lucida is closest to S. henryi Drumm. & Sprague in morphology and sharing similar limestone habitats and flowering in autumn. Thus, Merrill and Chun (1940) synonymized S. lucida to S. henryi . Chen and Schirarend (2007) disagreed with the synonymization of S. lucida because S. henryi was factually compared with S. ellipsoidea rather than the true S. lucida in their study. Nonetheless, we have limited knowledge on S. lucida so far because of the lack of field collections, and so know nothing about the fruits. In order to get more information on the species, we conducted investigations at the type location of S. lucida (Zhongdong Village) during early summer in 2016 and autumn in 2020, respectively, but failed to find any individuals. Consequently, we suggest to suspend the synonymization of S. lucida to S. henryi until more evidence has been obtained.

Additional specimens examined.

China. Guangdong: Yingde City, Zhongdong Village , 13 Nov 1926, W.T. Tsang & K.C. Wong 3114 (SYS) .

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Rhamnus nigricans, Sageretia cordiformis, S. ellipsoidea, and S. lucida. The sites were obtained from the specimen records, our field investigations and photo information in CFH and PPBC.

Figure 8. Isotype of Sageretia lucida (US [00094394]). Image obtained from GBIF.