Saussurea shuiluoensis Y. S. Chen, 2015

Chen, You-Sheng & Yuan, Qian, 2015, Twenty-six new species of Saussurea (Asteraceae, Cardueae) from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions, Phytotaxa 213 (3), pp. 159-211 : 202-204

23. Saussurea shuiluoensis Y. S. Chen , sp. nov. ( Fig. 23 )

Type:— CHINA. Sichuan: Muli County, hills behind Shuiluo village , in wet thickets along stream side, 2350–2850 m, 14 October 1959, S. G. Wu 3467 (holotype KUN; isotypes CDBI, PE) .

Herbs perennial, to 50 cm tall. Stems erect, 5–6 mm in diameter, glandular-dotted, narrowly winged, apically paniculately corymbiform branched. Leaves petiolate, papery, mature leaf blade ovate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, 7–14 cm long, 2.5–7.5 cm wide, adaxially green, glabrous, abaxially sparsely white arachnoid, glabrescent when old, margin dentate and mucronulate, apex acute to acuminate, base slightly cordate or rounded, decurrent into stems forming wings; wings entire or toothed. Petioles winged, 1.5–3 cm long; wings toothed or entire. Upper stem leaves narrowly elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, gradually smaller apically on stem. Capitula numerous, paniculate, in sparse corymbs at the end of branchlets or stems. Involucre campanulate, 8–9 mm in diameter. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows, imbricate, margin entire and purplish; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 5–6 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, leathery, sparsely pubescent, apex acuminate and reflexed; the second and third series of phyllaries oblong, sparsely pubescent, apex acuminate and reflexed; inner phyllaries oblong, sparsely pubescent, ca. 9 mm long, 1–1.2 mm wide, apex obtuse, appressed. Receptacle flat, densely covered with persistent white bristles, bristles acerose, ca. 5 mm long. Florets 20–25, corolla purple, ca. 11 mm long, tubular-funnelform, glabrous, tube ca. 4 mm long, limb ca. 7 mm long, lobes ca. 2 mm long. Anthers dark purple, ca. 5 mm long, apical appendage acute, basal appendages obtuse, auricles with lacerate tails ca. 1 mm long. Achenes cylindroid, ca. 3 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, glabrous, longitudinally striate. Pappus light brown; outer bristles ca. 3 mm long, scabrid; inner bristles 8–9 mm long, plumose.

Distribution and habitat:— Saussurea shuiluoensis is currently known only from Muli County, southwestern Sichuan, China. It grows in thickets along stream side at altitudes of 2350–2850 m.

Phenology:—Flowering and fruiting from September to October.

Etymology:—The specific epithet is derived from the locality name of Shuiluo, a village in Muli County. Chinese name: ḳȁṈLẄ.

Discussion:—In our molecular tree, S. shuiluoensis is shown to be weakly related to S. yangii Y. S. Chen. It belongs to S. subgen. Saussurea sect. Saussurea because of the well-developed and not scapiform stem, capitula numerous and less than 1 cm in diameter, and the lacerate anther tails. It is somewhat similar to S. peduncularis Franchet (1888: 357) in habit, stem and petioles winged, leaves glabrous or subglabrous, capitula size and paniculate synflorescence, but differs by its leaf base slightly cordate or rounded (vs. cuneate-attenuate), phyllaries usually narrower (vs. broader), outer and middle phyllaries apex acuminate, reflexed, sparsely pubescent (vs. acute to obtuse, appressed, sparsely arachnoid).

Saussurea shuiluoensis is also similar to S. alatipes Hemsley (1892: 308) in its leaf blade ovate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, base cordate to rounded, stems and petioles winged, corymbiform paniculate synflorescence, and outer phyllaries apex acuminate and reflexed, but differs by its stems winged (vs. unwinged), leaf blade abaxially sparsely white arachnoid, glabrescent when old (vs. grayish to greenish white, gland-dotted and densely tomentose), petioles narrowly winged (vs. broadly winged), and pappus light brown (vs. white). A comparison of S. shuiluoensis with related species is given in Table 19.

Figures

FIGURE 23. Saussurea shuiluoensis. A. Habit (without caudex). B. Pappus. C. Achene. D. Corolla with style and anthers. E. Phyllaries (from left to right, inner to outer series).All from S. G. Wu 3467 (KUN, PE). Drawn by Mrs. P. Liu.