Ophiopogon elatior Q.W.Lin, Zhi Y.Yu, Bing Liu & C.T.Le, 2021

Lin, Qin-Wen, Le, Chi-Toan, Yu, Zhi-Yong, Sun, Guo-Feng & Liu, Bing, 2021, Ophiopogon elatior, a new species of Asparagaceae from Yunnan, China, Phytotaxa 525 (1), pp. 46-50 : 47

Ophiopogon elatior Q.W.Lin, Zhi Y.Yu, Bing Liu & C.T.Le , sp. nov., Figs. 1 & 2 .

Type:— CHINA. Yunnan: Jinping County, Fenshuiling National Nature Reserve, Adebo Township , 103°15’ E, 22°50’ N, alt. 1400 m, 27 June 2009 , Yunnan Expedition Team YN-ET 260 (holotype, PE; isotype, PE) .

Chinese vernacular name: À "沿ḣ̊ (gao ting yan jie cao).

Diagnosis: —This species is most closely related to O. grandis , but differs from it and any other known species of Ophiopogon in the erect and very tall scape highly overtopping the basal grass-like foliage, and relatively large flowers with purple-dotted patulous perianth lobes more than 1 cm long.

Description: —Herb terrestrial, perennial, glabrous. Rhizome simple, horizontal, stout, elongate, 5–10 cm long, ca. 10 mm in diameter. Roots wiry, ca. 1 mm in diameter. Leaves many, tufted, terminal to subterminal, grass-like, linear, arching, 60–80 cm × 5–6 mm, apex acuminate, base no tapering, with scarious brown wings, margin minutely serrulate, adaxially green, abaxially pale green, with 10–20 narrow parallel white stripes, main longitudinal veins only 1 distinct at middle part of leaves. Scape erect, slender, ridged, 80–100 cm long, highly overtopping the grass-like foliage, dark purple or green, 2–3 mm in diameter. Peduncle (the lower part of scape without flowers) 50–80 cm long; bracts (without flowers) 3, green, lanceolate, the lowest one ca. 3 cm long, the upper ones smaller. Inflorescence a lax raceme with distant fascicles of 1–3 flowers; rachis 15–30 cm long. Floral bracts smaller than the ones on peduncle, lanceolate, apex acuminate, basal part with narrow scarious wings; inner bracts small, scarious. Pedicels (including basal stalky part of perianth) 9–11 mm long (true pedicels excluding perianth part, 5–6 mm long), ca. 0.5 mm in diameter, arching downwards, terete, minutely ridged, purple, articulate in or around middle part. Flowers drooping, relatively large, perianth ca. 2 cm across in fully opening; flower buds narrowly conical. Perianth lobes 6, patulous in fully opening, white, adaxially distinctly purple-dotted, lanceolate to elliptic, 9–11 mm × 2–4 mm, apex acuminate, inner ones slightly narrower than outer ones. Stamens 6, separate; filaments free, distinct, white, ca. 1.5 mm long; anthers green, introrse, narrowly hastate-anceolate, 6–7 mm long, broaden at base, acuminate at apex. Pistil 1; ovary inferior, 3-locular, generally flat but somewhat protuberant at terminal part; ovules 1–2 per locule; style 1, white, slender, distinctly curved about 2 times, ca. 11 mm long. Immature seeds oblong-obovoid, green. Flower June–July.

Etymology:— This new species is notably characterized by the erect and very tall scape, which could make the whole plant reaching a height of 1 m or higher. Hence, the epithet elatior , meaning the taller scape in Ophiopogon , was given to the species.

Distribution and habitat: — Ophiopogon elatior is only known from the type location, Yunnan, China. It grows under forest at 1400 m elevation.

Comparison: — Ophiopogon elatior can be easily distinguished from all known species of Ophiopogon with its erect and very tall scape highly overtopping the basal grass-like foliage. It seems that this species is most closely related to O. grandis , a distinct species accepted by Chen & Tamura (2000) or a synonym of O. intermedius by Tanaka (2000c). The two taxa share some similar floral and vegetative characters, such as stout elongate rhizome-like stems, tufted grass-like leaves, relatively large flowers and lanceolate anthers, etc. However, they are quite distinct with each other in many aspects, such as leaf size (60–80 cm × 5–6 mm vs 25–55 cm × 7–11 mm), scape size (80–100 cm vs 15–20 cm), and flower color (purple-dotted vs white). The flowers of O. megalanthus Wang & Dai (1978: 253) are also somewhat similar to that of O. elatior by the relatively large perianth lobes (9-10 mm long in the later) tinged with purplish, but it is quite different by other characters: tuberous rhizome, purple basal part, shorter and broader leaves (25–60 × 0.8–1.5 cm and broadest at middle part), and shorter scape (30–35 cm long).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ophiopogon elatior. A. Flowering plant; B. Part of leaf blade showing the minutely serrulate margin; C. Flower bud; D. Bract; E. Lateral view of flower; F. Top view of flower; G. Perianths and pistil; H. Stamen; I. Young fruit. (Drawn by Y.B.Sun).

FIGURE 2. Ophiopogon elatior. A. Flowering plant in habitat; B. Inflorescence; C. Top view of flowers; D. Young fruits. (Photos by B.Liu).