Clematis guniuensis W.Y.Ni, R.B.Wang & S.B.Zhou, 2019

Wang, Rong-Bin, Ni, Wei-Yong, Xu, Wen-Jing, Gui, Zheng-Wen & Zhou, Shou-Biao, 2019, Clematis guniuensis (Ranunculaceae), a new species from Eastern China, PhytoKeys 128, pp. 47-55 : 48-53

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.128.33891
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4B73558D-4CF7-576A-8F91-8DB6B24CCD07
treatment provided by	PhytoKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Clematis guniuensis W.Y.Ni, R.B.Wang & S.B.Zhou
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Clematis guniuensis W.Y.Ni, R.B.Wang & S.B.Zhou sp. nov. Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 3 View Figure 3

Diagnosis.

Resembles C. florida Thunb. and C. huchouensis Tamura but can be distinguished from the former one by puberulous leaflet blades, longer petiole, larger flowers with light green sepals, longer stamens and white filaments and from the latter by its longer petioles, 3-lobed leaflet blades, shorter pedicel, larger flowers, 4 sepals, filaments about 3-5 times the length of the anther, persistent style 1.5-2 cm long, and yellow plumose.

Type.

CHINA. Anhui Province: Qimeng County, Guniujiang National Nature Reserve, Huangshan City , 30°0'57.02"N, 117°29'37.17"E, 550 m a.s.l., 15 May 2018, flowering, Rong-Bin Wang, WRB201805068 (holotype: ANUB!; isotypes: AHU!, PE!, WUH!) GoogleMaps .

Description.

Vines herbaceous, perennial; branches inconspicuously longitudinally 6-sulcate to sub-terete, densely primrose yellow puberulous covering when young, becoming glabrescent with age. Root fusiform. Leaves opposite, ternate; peti ole 7-10 cm long; leaflets 3-lobed, ovate to narrowly-ovate; central lobe 6-7.5 × 3.5-4 cm, lateral lobes 4-5 × 2.8-3.5 cm, margin coarsely dentate to entire, apex acuminate or sometimes caudate, base broadly cuneate to rounded, papery, adaxially dark green, densely appressed white pilose, abaxially light green, sparsely puberulous to sub-gla brous, basal veins abaxially slightly prominent; and with petiolule 1-2 cm long. Cymes axillary, 1-flowered; peduncles 3-6 cm long, densely puberulous; bracts opposite, subsessile, ovate, 1.2-1.7 × 5-7 mm, margin entire, both surfaces puberulous. Flowers 6-8 cm diam.; pedicels ca. 2 cm long, conical, sulcate, green, densely puberulous; sepals 4, spreading, light green, ovate, ovate-lanceolate or broad-lanceolate, 3.5-4.5 × 1.8-2.3 cm, apex acute, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely white pubescent, trinerved; stamens numerous, 1-3 cm long, filaments linear, glabrous, about 3-5 times the length of the anthers, anthers narrowly oblong, ca. 6 mm long, white, glabrous, apex shortly apiculate; ovaries ellipsoidal, pubescent, style densely yellow-villose. Achenes dark-brown, strongly compressed, ovate to broadly ellipsoidal, ca. 3 × 1 mm wide, pubescent; persistent style 1.5-2 cm long, yellow-plumose.

Phenology.

Flowering from April to May; fruiting from October to November.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is derived from the type locality, Guniujiang National Nature Reserve.

Vernacular name.

Gǖ Niǘ Tiě Xiãn Lián (Chinese pronunciation); 牯牛铁线莲 (Chinese name).

Distribution and habitat.

To date, C. guniuensis is only known from the type locality, Guniujiang National Nature Reserve, Huangshan City, Anhui Province (Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ). Currently the species is known from a few collections and there is only one known population with ca. 20 individuals at the type locality. The species is mostly found in tea plantations or forest edges along valleys of evergreen broad-leaved forests, at an elevation of 1,500 m a.s.l.

Conservation assessment.

Based on the present field investigations, C. guniuensis is currently only known from the type locality and with a very small population size (ca. 20 individuals). The species should be given the IUCN status of Critically Endangered (CR) based on criteria D: "Population size estimated to number fewer than 50 mature individuals" ( IUCN 2016).

Notes.

A morphological comparison between C. guniuensis and morphologically related species, C. florida and C. huchouensis , is provided in Table 1 View Table 1 . A total of 17 species of this genus was found in the Anhui province, with this new species being easily distinguished from the other species in this region by its 3-lobed leaflets, 1-flowered cymes, flowers 6-8 cm diam., sepals 4 and light green and glabrous filaments.