Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang, 2025

Deng, Huiqun, Liao, Xianjun, Yu, Xiangqin, Liu, Zhusheng & Yang, Shixiong, 2025, Reinstatement of the independent specific status of Camellia angustifolia, a tea plant (Camellia sect. Thea, Theaceae) from Guangxi, China, PhytoKeys 267, pp. 1-8 : 1-8

Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang

Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang in Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyats. 20 (1): 96 (Tax. Gen. Camellia 119). 1981 et 23 (1): 9. 1984; Hung T. Chang & B. Bartholomew, Camellias 147, pl. 48. 1984; Hung T. Chang in Fl. Guangxi 1: 787. 1991; Hung T. Chang, Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin. 49 (3): 129, pl. 31: 2. 1998.

= C. sinensis var. pubilimba auct. non Hung T. Chang: T. L. Ming in Acta Bot. Yunnan. 14 (2): 129. 1992 et in Monogr. Camellia 135. 2000; T. L. Ming & B. Bartholomew, Fl. China 12: 377. 2007, quoad syn. C. angustifolia .

Type.

China Guangxi: • Jinxiu , in shade on slope, 1520 m, 16 July 1958, Y. K. Li 400664 ( holotype: SCBI 0003466 !; isotype: IBK 00190495 !) (Fig. 1 A, B ) .

Description.

Evergreen arbor, 10–20 m tall. New branchlets glabrous, terminal buds sparsely to densely pubescent. Petioles 5–10 mm long, glabrous; leaf blades lanceolate, oblong to elliptic, 7–13 × 2–5 cm, coriaceous, abaxially yellowish green, glabrous or subglabrous, adaxially dark green, glabrous, shiny, midrib and secondary veins abaxially elevated and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 10–13 pairs, base cuneate, apex acuminate, margin serrulate. Flowers axillary, solitary or paired, 4–5 cm in diam. Pedicels 6–12 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles 2 (– 3), caducous. Sepals 5, persistent, suborbicular, 5–9 × 5–10 mm, abaxially glabrous, adaxially sericeous, margin ciliolate. Petals 7–8 in 1–2 whorls, white, elliptic to obovate, 15–30 × 15–20 mm, glabrous on both surfaces, apex obtuse to rounded, inner 4–5 petals basally connate to each other and adnate to the filament tube for 3–4 mm. Stamens numerous, 18–22 mm long, in 2–3 whorl; filaments glabrous, filaments of the outer whorls basally connate for 3–5 mm, filaments of the innermost whorl free. Ovary 3 - loculed, globose to ovoid, densely tomentum. Styles 1, 16–20 mm long, pubescent almost the entire length, apically 3 - lobed for 3–5 mm. Capsule globose, 3–4 cm in diam., 3 - loculed with 1–2 seeds per locule; pericarp 2–3 mm thick. Seeds fuscous, globose, ca. 1.5 cm in diam., glabrous. Figs 1 A, B , 2 .

Phenology.

Flowering September – October, fruiting August – September.

Distribution and habitat.

Endemic to northern Guangxi, China (Fig. 4 ), in the evergreen broadleaf forest at the elevations of 930–1390 m.

Additional specimens examined.

China Guangxi: • Jinxiu , 14 September 2021, S. X. Yang & P. M. Ye 6752, 6753, 6754, 6755, 6756, 6757 ( KUN) ; 16 February 2023, S. X. Yang, P. M. Ye et H. M. Tan 7060, 7061, 7062, 7063, 7064, 7065, 7066, 7067, 7068, 7069 ( KUN) . • Lingui , 15 February 2025, S. X. Yang, Z. S. Liu, Y. L. Pan, H. Q. Deng et H. L. Xiao 7811, 7812, 7813, 7814, 7815, 7816, 7817, 7818, 7819, 7820, 7821, 7822, 7823, 7824 ( KUN) . • Longsheng , 1 May 2025, S. X. Yang, H. Q. Deng et X. Y. Wang 7941, 7942, 7944, 7945 ( KUN) . • Rongshui , 21 July 2014, X. Q. Yu YXQ 125 ( KUN) ; 3 May 2025, S. X. Yang, Z. S. Liu et H. Q. Deng 7959, 7960, 7961, 7962, 7963 ( KUN) .

Figures

Figure 1. Type specimens. A. Holotype of C. angustifolia (IBSC); A 1. Showing the thick pericarp (arrow: the thinnest part); A 2. showing the glabrous branchlet, petiole, and the terminal bud with sparse pubescence; B. Isotype of C. angustifolia (IBK); B 1. Showing the shape of the fruit and the large glabrous sepals; C. Holotype of C. sinensis var. pubilimba (SYS); C 1. Showing the hairy terminal bud, branchlet, and petiole, as well as the small, abaxially hairy sepals (arrow: sepals); D. Isotype of C. sinensis var. pubilimba (PE); D 1. Showing the obvious indumentum on the terminal bud, branchlet, petiole, abaxial leaf surface, and the adaxial surface of the sepals (arrow: sepals). A. Photographed by Yunfei Deng; B, D. Photographed by Shixiong Yang; C. Photographed by Qiang Fang and Lijuan Luo.

Figure 2. Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang. A. Habit; B. Flowering branch. C. Young fruit with sepals; D. Young branch with terminal bud and petiole; E. The back of a leaf; F. Pistil. A, B, D. From S. X. Yang & P. M. Ye 6755 (KUN); C. From S. X. Yang & P. M. Ye 6756 (KUN); E, F. From S. X. Yang & P. M. Ye 6757 (KUN). Photographed by Shixiong Yang.

Figure 4. The distribution of Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang (made by Hanning Duan).