Aspidistra triradiata Vislobokov (2015: 269)

Nuraliev, Maxim S., Romanov, Mikhail S., Drokina, Victoria G., Fu, Long-Fei & Vislobokov, Nikolay A., 2023, Two newly recorded species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) for the flora of China: A. obliqua and A. triradiata, Phytotaxa 600 (4), pp. 248-254 : 251

Aspidistra triradiata Vislobokov (2015: 269) ( Fig. 3 )

Literature: — Wei (2018: 622), Wei et al. (2022: 112), Tillich (2023: 6).

TYPE: — VIETNAM. Vinh Phuc province: Tam Dao district, Tam Dao National Park , about 6 km NW of Tam Dao town, 21°29.942’ N 105°36.973’ E, elev. 1208 m, rainforest, 19 November 2014 , N. A. Vislobokov 14098 (holotype: MW: MW0595636 !; flowering) .

Image of holotype available at: https://depo.msu.ru/open/public/en/item/MW0595636

Additional specimens examined: — CHINA. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Baise City , Napo County, Baishen town , Nonglong village , slope of limestone hill, 23°14.377’ N 105°33.764’ E, elev. 1188 m, 22 November 2016, N. A. Vislobokov, M. S. Nuraliev, B. Pan, F. Wen, Z. B. Xin G30 ( IBK: IBK00407784 ; MW: MW0753785 , MW0753786 ; flowering); living plant from the same gathering cultivated in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), garden number: 2016.12342 ;

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Laibin City , Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Dayao Mountain Park , Shengtang mountain , mountain slope, forest with bamboo, 23°58.493’ N 110°06.741’ E, elev. 1229 m, 11 November 2017 , N. A. Vislobokov, M. S. Nuraliev, J. Dong G168 ( IBK; MW: MW0754786 , MW0754787 , MW0754788 ; fruiting); living plant from the same gathering cultivated in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) , garden number: 2017.13475 (flowered in March 2018).

Notes:— Aspidistra triradiata belongs to the so-called A. hainanensis species complex. This complex is characterized by tufted leaves, i.e., by presence of several foliage leaves per elementary shoot ( Tillich & Averyanov 2012, Tillich 2014, 2023, Averyanov et al. 2018, Ding et al. 2021, Vislobokov et al. 2021), and distinguished from other species with tufted leaves by perigone lobes with 4–6 keels and mushroom-shaped pistils ( Tillich 2023). Specimen identification within this complex is known to be complicated by incompletely understood morphological boundaries and geographical distribution of its species.

A specimen Le Tuan Anh s.n. collected in Quang Tri province of Vietnam and assigned to A. triradiata was reported as a source for investigation of chemical compounds by Le et al. (2022, 2023a, 2023b). After investigation of analytical field photographs of this specimen kindly provided by Le Tuan Anh (see also LE: LE01123061), a collector of this specimen, we concluded that it shows considerable differences from A. triradiata , including campanulate (vs urceolate) perigone tube and stigma entirely white above (vs with three purple radial lines). We here re-identify this specimen as A. hainanensis W.Y.Chun & F.C.How in Guangdong Institute of Botany (1977: 533) s.s.

Wei (2018) included A. triradiata in a list of native plants of Guangxi and indicated this species to be found in Napo (where our collection Vislobokov et al. G30 was also made). However, Wei (2018) did not cite any collections or references for this occurrence, which makes it impossible to be verified, especially given the taxonomic difficulties in A. hainanensis complex described above. Here, we report A. triradiata from China confirmed by specimen investigation and photographs of living flowers for the first time.

Distribution:— China (Guangxi: counties Napo and Jinxiu), Vietnam (Vinh Phuc: Tam Dao district).

Ecology and phenology:— Aspidistra triradiata inhabits diverse types of evergreen forests, including forests on limestone karst, at elevations around 1200 m a.s.l. Flowering and fruiting in nature in November.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Aspidistra triradiata. A. Anthetic plant in natural habitat. B, C. Flower (oblique view and top view). D. Flower (top view) with a half of perigone removed, showing stigma. E. Flower and peduncle (side view). F. Flower (side view) with a half of perigone removed. G. Longitudinally dissected flower. Vislobokov et al. G30. Photos by M.S. Nuraliev.