Aspidistra wujiangensis W.F.Xu & S.Z.He, 2015

Xu, Wen-Fen, Wang, Yong & He, Shun-Zhi, 2015, A new species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) from Guizhou, China, Phytotaxa 231 (3), pp. 297-299 : 297

Aspidistra wujiangensis W.F.Xu & S.Z.He sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Type: — CHINA. Guizhou province, Yanhe country, under the shrub beside Wujiang valley, 20 September 2007, W. F. Xu et al. 070920 (holotype, GZTM!).

Herbs perennial, rhizome creeping, subterete, 5 − 7 mm thick, covered with scales. Roots elongate. Leaf sheaths 3 − 4, purple-brown, 3 − 8 cm long, enclosing the base of leaves, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, 1.1 − 1.7 cm apart, leaf blade narrowly oblanceolate with small yellowish white spots, 23 − 36 × 3.2 − 4 cm, apex gradually acuminate, base gradually narrowed into petiole; Petiole 14 − 26 cm. Penduncle 0.8 − 1.2 cm, subterete, bracts 4 − 6, 4.5 − 5.5 × 5 − 6 mm. Flower solitary, erect; Perigone campanulate, purple-red, 9.5 − 12 × 8 − 8.5 mm, 8-lobed, perigone tube 7 − 9 mm in length, 8 mm in diameter, lobes yellowish white, 2.5 − 3 mm long and ca. 2 mm wide at base; Stamens 8, inserted at ca. 3 mm above base of tube, filament extremely short, anther ovoid, 1.7 × 1.2 mm; Pistil 3.5 − 4 mm in length with joint between style and stigma, ovary scarcely swelled, ca. 2.5 mm in diameter, stigma dishing swelled, purple-red, 6 − 7 mm in diameter, 4 − lobed at margin, lobes concave apex, the center slightly convex with 4 pairs of radiate ridges on the upper surface and a groove appeared in each pair of ridges; Berry pyriform, 1 − 1.3 cm high and 1.1 − 1.4 cm in diameter, with small spines on the surface. Flowering phase: September to October. Fruiting phase: October to November in the next year.

Distribution and habitat: — This species grows under shrubs on valley slopes, at the height of 300 − 350 m. Distributed in Yanhe country, Guizhou province, China.

Additional specimen examined (paratype):— CHINA. Guizhou province, Yanhe country, 20 September 2007, W. F. Xu et al. 070921 (GZTM!).

Taxonomic relationships:—The new species is similar to Aspidistra sichuanensis Lang & Zhu (1984: 387) , Aspidistra ebianensis Lang & Zhu (1999: 492) and Aspidistra longshengensis Lin & Xu (2015: 163) . The major differences among these species, which are illustrated in Table 1, lie in the shape of leave, the length of the perigone lobe, the location of stamens insertion, the style joint, and stigma characters.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aspidistra wujiangensis (A) plant habit; (B) flower; (C) longitudinal profile of a flower (showing stamen); (D) longitudinal profile of a flower (showing pistil); (E) stigma apical view; (F) stigma dorsal view; (G) fruit.