Aspidistra longjiangensis C.R.Lin, W.B.Xu & Yan Liu

Lin, Chun-Rui, Lu, Zhao-Cen, Pan, Bo, Wan, Xin-Yu, Xu, Wei-Bin & Liu, Yan, 2024, Five new species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) from Guangxi, China, Phytotaxa 652 (2), pp. 100-114 : 101-103

1. Aspidistra longjiangensis C.R.Lin, W.B.Xu & Yan Liu , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

Type:— CHINA. Guangxi: type herbarium specimen prepared from cultivated plant, 18 February 2023, Chun-Rui Lin 1692 (holotype: IBK00461647 , isotype: IBK00461648 ). Living plants were collected by Gao Xie from Hechi City, Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Xianan Town, Xiyuan Village , limestone hills, at elevation about 500 m, 23 May 2021.

Diagnosis:— The new species resembles A. daxinensis in leaves ovate and perianth lobes usually incurved, but distinguishable by the secondary veins prominently concave on the leaves upper surface, flowers white with purplish red spots or purplish red, stigma purplish red, upper surface nearly flat, with 3 radial forking white ridges.

Herbs perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, epigeous, subterete, 6–8 mm in diameter, covered with scales, internodes congested. Roots numerous. Leaves sheath 4–5, pale green densely with purplish red spots to purplish red, 2–12 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, becoming black-brown when dry. Leaves solitary, 2–4 cm apart; petiole stiff upright, 18–48 cm long, 2–3 mm in diameter, somewhat thicker towards the base, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade usually ovate to ovate-oblong, 22–26 cm long, 9–11 cm wide, green, base broadly suborbicular, inequilateral, apex acuminate, margin entire, with prominent midvein on lower surface, each half of leaf blade with 5–7 conspicuous secondary veins, concave on the upper surface and slightly rise on the lower surface. Peduncle bluish white, 0.5–2 cm long, with 5–6 bracts, bracts gradually wider from base to top of peduncle, the bracts at perianth base broadly ovate, white with purplish red spots, 11–13 mm long, ca. 10 mm wide, apex obtuse. Flower solitary; perianth urceolate, fleshy, outside white with purplish red spots or purplish red, 18–24 mm long, deeply 6 lobed apically; lobes usually incurved, subequal, triangular lanceolate, 8–10 mm long, 3–4 mm wide at base, apex acuminate, inside pale yellow or yellowish-green and frequently with purplish red mottled densely, each lobe basally with an adaxial, purplish red appendage, appendages the bases explanate protruding horizontally over tube opening and reducing the opening to 3–4 mm; tube 10–14 mm long, 11–13 mm in diameter, internally blackish purple and shallowly verruculose at the upper part of the perianth tube. Stamens 6, opposite to lobes, inserted at ca. 3 mm from the base of perianth tube, positioned conspicuously lower than stigma; anthers ovate, subsessile, ca. 3 mm long and ca. 1.5 mm wide, pollen yellow. Pistil 6–7 mm long, ovary inconspicuous, style short, cylindrical, 1–2 mm long, stigma enlarged, bowl-shaped, purplish red, 5–6 mm thick, 9–11 mm in diameter, upper surface nearly flat and rough, with 3 radial white ridges dichotomously forking at a half way, margin with longitudinally 12 ribs. Young fruit purplish red or yellowish red, subglobose or slightly oblate, 10–16 mm in diameter, surface slightly irregularly warty or prickly.

Phenology:— Flowering from late November to February of the following year, the fruit ripens in the winter of the second year.

Etymology:— The specific epithet refers to the type locality, Huanjiang County, Luocheng County and Yizhou District, there are all located in the central part of the Longjiang River Basin, Guangxi, China. The Chinese name is given as ‘ ḭȗǵƦḂã ’ (Chinese pinyin: lóng jiāng zhī zhū bào dàn).

Distribution and ecology:— Aspidistra longjiangensis is currently known from the type locality, near Longjiang River, Huanjiang County, Luocheng County, and Yizhou District, northwest Guangxi, China ( Fig.1 : star). It grows under evergreen broad-leaved forest on limestone hills, in the shady and moist of the valley along the Longjiang River, at elevation range of 450– 600 m.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— CHINA. Guangxi: Hechi City, Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Xianan Town , 24.9561°N, 107.9214°E, at elevation about 559 m, 29 April 2023, Wei-Bin Xu, Zhao-Cen Lu & Chun-Rui Lin 15852 ( IBK00461658 ) ; Wei-Bin Xu , Zhao-Cen Lu & Chun-Rui Lin 15847 ( IBK00461659 , young fruit) ; Huanjiang County, Shangnan Town , at elevation about 520 m, 29 March 2023, Ying Qin & Chun-Rui Lin 1719 ( IBK00461657 ) ; Yizhou District, Huaiyuan Town , at elevation about 460 m, 27 May 2023, Yun-Biao Liao & Chun-Rui Lin 1755 ( IBK00461660 ) ; Guilin City, Botany Garden of Guilin , cultivation, 23 February 2023, Chun-Rui Lin 1697 ( IBK00461656 , cultivated plant collected by Jing Liu & Ren-Chuan Hu from Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County, Tianhe Town , 27 April 2013) .

Conservation status:— At present, the new species has been found in two localities in Huangjiang County and one locality in Yizhou City and Luocheng County respectively, Guangxi, China. It is highly possible that more populations are present in the Longjiang River Basin area where they are less threatened. According to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria ( IUCN 2022), A. longjiangensis well be considered in the Least Concern (LC) category.

Notes:— The new species resembles A. daxinensis M.F.Hou & Yan Liu in Hou et al. (2009: 371) in leaf blade ovate and perigone lobes usually incurved, but distinguishable by the secondary veins prominently concave (vs. hardly visible) on the leaves upper surface, flowers white with purplish red spots or purplish red (vs. yellowish green with purple spots), perianth lobes slightly shorter (vs. longer) than tube, stamens ovate (vs. oblong), stigma upper surface nearly flat (vs. convex), purplish red (vs. pale yellow) and rough (vs. glabrous), with 3 radial white or pale yellow forking ridges (vs. lines) at center. A detailed morphological comparison between the two species is provided in Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution map of Aspidistra longjiangensis (star), A. erythropoecila (triangle), A. duanensis (circle), A. yachangensis (halfmoon) and A. polypetala (diamond).

FIGURE 2. Aspidistra longjiangensis: (A) habit; (B, C) flowers (purplish red); (D) young fruit; (E) flowers (white with purplish red spots); (F) flowering plant; (G) flower longitudinally dissected to show stamens and pistil; (H) bracts; (I) flower with half of perianth removed showing pistil; (J) stigma lower view; (K, L) pistil; (M) stigma apical view.