Camellia kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica (Hung T. Chang & B. H. Chen) T. L. Ming (1992: 118)

Jiang, Yin-Zi, Yu, Xiang-Qin, Zhang, Tao, Peng, Hua & Yang, Shi-Xiong, 2023, Taxonomic notes on Camellia crassicolumna and its related species (Theaceae), Phytotaxa 595 (1), pp. 109-114 : 110-111

1. Camellia kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica (Hung T. Chang & B. H. Chen) T. L. Ming (1992: 118)

≡ C. kwangnanica Hung T. Chang et B. H. Chen in Hung T. Chang (1984: 4)

Type:— CHINA. Yunnan: Guangnan , 1790m, 27 October 1982, B.H. Chen et al. A20002 (holotype: SYS00095169! Fig. 1B ; isotype: TEA!) .

= C. crassicolumna Hung T. Chang (1981a: 91) , quoad type specimens, syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA. Yunnan, Xichou , November 1943, C.P. Tsien 644 (holotype: PE00024303 ! Fig. 1A ; isotypes: IBK00200083 ! 00200086!) .

Notes: — Camellia crassicolumna was published twice as new species with the same type by the same authors in the same year: in Acta Scientiarum naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni in February 1981 ( Chang 1981a) and in ‘ A Taxonomy of the Genus Camellia’ in April 1981 ( Chang 1981b). Obviously, the latter ( Chang 1981b: 113) was a later isonym (Art. 6 Note 2 of the ICN).

In the protologue ( Chang 1981a), the collection C.P. Tsien 644 at PE was assigned as the type of C. crassicolumna . Only one sheet of this collection was deposited in PE with a barcode PE00024303 and can be taken as the holotype ( Fig. 1A ). Recently two more duplicates of C.P. Tsien 644 were found at IBK (IBK00200083 and 00200086). Chang (1981a) indicated that C. crassicolumna was featured with 5-locular and tomentose ovary which is the key diagnostic character in specific delimitation in sect. Thea ( Sealy 1958, Chang 1981a, b, 1984, Chang & Bartholomew 1984, Ming 1992, Chang & Ren 1998, Ming & Bartholomew 2007). However, all type specimens clearly show that the ovary of this species is glabrous ( Fig. 2C ), which is not consistent with the protologue. With the 5-locular glabrous ovary ( Fig. 2C, D ), the large capsule (5–8 cm in diam.) with thick pericarp (5–8 mm), the large flower (4–6 cm in diam.) with hairy sepals and petals ( Fig. 2E, F ), and the hairy terminal buds, young branches and leaf abaxial surface ( Fig. 2A, B ), it can be concluded that C. crassicolumna is conspecific with C. kwangnanica ( Figs. 1 , 2 ).

Camellia kwangnanica was validly published as a new taxon in 1984 (Chang 1984), later than the publication of C. crassicolumna . Ming (1992) proposed that C. kwangnanica was different from C. kwangsiensis only by the abaxially hairy sepals and petals, so the former was treated as a variety of the latter, which is adopted and reinforced by us because C. kwangsiensis and C. kwangnanica were often found in the same population according to our observations during field surveys. Consequently, C. crassicolumna is treated as a new heterotypic synonym of C. kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica .

Habitat:— Montane forests, 1050–1900m.

Distribution:— Endemic to China (Southeast Yunnan and West Guangxi).

Additional specimens examined:— CHINA. Yunnan: Funing, Lida , 1347m, 22 May 2014, S.X. Yang et D.W. Zhao 4806 ( KUN) ; Muyang , 1604m, 22 May 2014, S.X. Yang et D.W. Zhao 4808, 4809, 4810 ( KUN) . Guangnan, Heizhiguo , 1550m, 6 March 1940, C.W. Wang 87540 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 1850m, 9 November 1964, Z.W. Lin 621 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 1700m, 9 November 1964, Q.A. Wu 9818 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 1580m, 9 October 1979, L.S. Xie et M. Cai 0448 ( KUN) ; Zhetu , 6 November 1965, 65- Wenshan Exp. 214 ( KUN, PE) ; the same locality, 1550m, 27 October 1982, B.H. Chen et S.C. Ma A20008 (paratype of C. kwangnanica )( SYS) ; the same locality, 1585m, 17 November 2012, S.X. Yang et W. Fang 3922, 3924, 3925, 3926, 3927, 3928 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 1869m, 21 May 2014, S.X. Yang et D.W. Zhao 4792, 4794, 4797 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 17 August 2021, S.X. Yang et Y.Z. Jiang 6720, 6721, 6723, 6725, 6734, 6736, 6737, 6738 ( KUN) ; Dixu , 1680m, 18 November 2012, S.X. Yang et W. Fang 3930 ( KUN) ; the same locality, 1500m, 21 May 2014, S.X. Yang et D.W. Zhao 4780, 4781, 4782, 4783, 4784 ( KUN) . Xichou, Fadou , 1550m, 22 December 2004, S.X. Yang 1295, 1296 ( KUN) . Guangxi: Tianlin, Langping , 1097m, 13 September 2013, Tianlin Exp. 451029130913006 ( GXMI, GXMG) ; the same locality, 2 July 2016, S.X. Yang 5484, 5485 ( KUN) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type specimens of Camellia crassicolumna (C.P. Tsien 644, PE00024303) (A), C. kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica (B.H. Chen et al. A20002, SYS00095169) (B) and C. atrothea (B.H. Chen et al. A21002, SYS00095178) (C). Photo A by S.X. Yang, photos B and C from CVH (https://www.cvh.ac.cn/).

FIGURE 2. Morphological comparisons between Camellia crassicolumna (A, C, E) and C. kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica (B, D, F). A, B. Young branches and terminal buds. C, D. Ovaries. E, F. Abaxial surface of sepals and petals. Photos A, C, E by S.X. Yang and photos B, D, F by Li-Juan Luo and Qiang Fan (SYS).