Aspidistra obliqua K.S.Nguyen & Aver.

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 : 249-251

Aspidistra obliqua K.S.Nguyen & Aver. in Averyanov et al. (2020a: 9) ( Fig. 2 )

Literature: — Averyanov et al. (2020b: 155, Fig. 337, 338), Wei et al. (2022: 111), Tillich (2023: 11).

TYPE: — VIETNAM. Ha Giang province: Quan Ba district, Can Ty commune, Sin Suoi Ho village, around point 23.09566° N 105.02142° E, very steep mountain slopes composed of solid highly eroded karstic limestone at elevation 800–1000 m a.s.l., remnants of primary evergreen broad-leaved and coniferous (with Calocedrus rupestris and Xanthocyparis vietnamensis ) humid forest, terrestrial herb in shady place among rocks, 11 October 2019, L. Averyanov, Nguyen Sinh Khang, T. Maisak VR 1548 (holotype: LE: LE01067134 photo!; isotypes: HN, MW: MW0595840 !; flowering and fruiting).

Image of holotype available at: https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=12854

Photos of living plants used for preparation of type specimens available at:

https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=13148

https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=99504

Additional specimens examined: — CHINA. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Chongzuo City , Longzhou County, Zhubu town , Nongzai village , path to Sancunshan hill, limestone slope, 22°29.335’ N 106°56.212’ E, elev. 250 m, 25 November 2016 , N. A. Vislobokov, M. S. Nuraliev, B. Pan , F. Wen G72 ( IBK; MW: MW0753756 , MW0753762 , MW0753767 , sterile); living plant from the same gathering cultivated in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), garden number: 2016.12352 (and spirit material of flowers from this plant in collection of Moscow University, flowered in May 2022) .

Notes:—The Chinese specimen shows several significant morphological differences from the type specimen of A. obliqua , which, however, do not prevent us from assigning our specimen to this species. In particular, in the living material of Vislobokov et al. G72, the leaf blade is lustrous (vs velvety); however, this difference is not evident when comparing dried specimens. Then, the stamens are inserted at level of 1/3 of perigone tube (vs at middle of perigone tube), and the pistil is evidently mushroom-shaped with convex stigma (vs obconoid). The pistil in the Chinese specimen is white in the basal half, whereas it is described as dark purple black to black in the protologue. At the same time, Figure 6 in Averyanov et al. (2020a) depicts a flower (right side of plate, second flower from above) with the same pistil coloration as in the Chinese specimen.

In addition, in Vislobokov et al. G72 , the stamens are free from the pistil (similarly to all the other known species of the genus), whereas Averyanov et al. (2020a) described the type material to uniformly have stamens densely appressed to the pistil right below stigma, and (1–)2(–3) of them fused with the pistil by filament apices. We suppose that such an unusual floral construction could be a result of a teratological nature of the type material.

Distribution:— China (Guangxi: Longzhou County), Vietnam (Ha Giang: Quan Ba district).

Ecology and phenology:— Aspidistra obliqua inhabits evergreen broad-leaved and coniferous forests on limestone karst at elevations of 250–1000 m a.s.l. Flowering and fruiting in nature in October–November.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Aspidistra obliqua. A, B. Sterile plants in natural habitat. C–E. Flower (top view, oblique view and side view). F. Stigma (top view). G. Stigma (view from below). H. Longitudinally dissected flower. I. The same flower as in H with pistil removed. Vislobokov et al. G72. Photos:A, B in situ by M.S. Nuraliev; C, D from cultivated plant by V.G. Drokina; E–I from cultivated plant by M.S. Romanov.