Bredia nitida J. H. Dai & Ying Liu, 2022

Dai, Jin-Hong, Nong, Shi-Yue, Guo, Xi-Bin, Do, Truong Van, Liu, Yan, Zhou, Ren-Chao & Liu, Ying, 2022, Three new species of Bredia (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae) from the Sino-Vietnamese border area, PhytoKeys 195, pp. 107-125 : 107

Bredia nitida J. H. Dai & Ying Liu sp. nov.

Figs 7 , 8

Type.

China. Yunnan Province: Hekou County, Nan-xi Town, Qin-cai-tang Village , 849 m, under forests, on limestone slope, 31 May 2020, Jin-hong Dai and Ying Liu 850 (holotype: PE; isotypes: A, SYS) .

Diagnosis.

Resembles B. malipoensis in leaf shape and morphology of the inflorescence, petal margin, and stamens but differs in the stem and leaves often glabrescent when mature (vs. densely pubescent), nitid upper leaf surface (vs. subvelvety), ovate-elliptic or elliptic calyx lobes (vs. triangular to semiorbicular), and white petals (vs. purplish-red).

Description.

Shrubs, 40-65 cm tall. Stems erect and branched, terete, sparsely puberulous with spreading, minute uniseriate hairs when young, often glabrescent when mature. Leaves opposite, equal or unequal; petiole 2.1-9 cm long, sparsely puberulous when young; blade ovate-cordate to ovate, 3.2-12 × 1.5-8.8 cm, thin papery, adaxial surface green and nitid, sometimes with white, orbicular patches when young, sparsely puberulous, glabrescent when mature, abaxial surface pale green, puberulous on veins, secondary veins 2 or 3 on each side of midvein, base cordate to subrounded, entire, inconspicuously and sparsely ciliate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence a terminal cyme, 1-8-flowered, peduncle 0.5-2.5 cm long, sparsely puberulous. Flowers bisexual, radial but androecium slightly bilateral, 4-merous, pedicels, hypanthium and calyx lobes puberulous; pedicles 0.5-1.7 cm long; hypanthium white to purplish-red, funnel-shaped, ca. 6-7 × 4-5 mm; calyx lobes 4, ovate-elliptic or elliptic, 5.5-7 × 3-4 mm, adaxially with a thick basal protuberance; petals 4, white, orbicular, 0.5-1.0 cm long, margin undulate and ciliate with glandular hairs, apex oblique and retuse; stamens 8 in two whorls, isomorphic, equal in length, filaments 6-7 mm long, bent with the anthers to one side of the flower, anthers lanceolate, 7-8 mm long, purplish-red, connective forming a 1.5 mm long, yellow dorsal spur and 2 yellow ventral lobes; ovary half inferior, locules 4, apex of ovary with membranous crown, crown margin ciliate with glandular hairs; style 0.7-1.5 cm long, basally sparsely puberulous. Capsule 7-9 × 6-7 mm, funnel-shaped; placentation axial, placentas non-thready; seeds numerous, ca. 1 mm long, cuneate.

Phenology.

Flowering June, fruiting late June to August.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is based on the nitid leaves.

Distribution.

Bredia nitida is currently known from Hekou County, Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 2 ), occurring in moist forests on limestone slopes at 800-900 m at the Sino-Vietnamese border. Discovery of additional populations on the Vietnamese side is expected, as there are many lush limestone hills in the area.

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Bredia bullata (solid circle), B. nitida (triangle), and B. enchengensis (star).

Figure 7. Holotype of Bredia nitida, Jin-hong Dai and Ying Liu 850 (PE). Scale bar: 5 cm.

Figure 8. Bredia nitida A habit B young leaves with white patches (insert) and flowering branch C sparsely puberulous young branchlet with spreading minute hairs D adaxial (top) and abaxial (bottom) leaf surfaces E flowering inflorescence F top view of flower bud showing ovate-elliptic calyx lobes (upper left), two petals (upper right), top view of flower (lower left), and longitudinal section of flower (lower right) showing the isomorphic stamens and thick basal protuberance (indicated by arrow) on calyx lobe G top view (top) and longitudinal section (bottom) of old capsule showing enlarged ovary crown. Scale bars: 5 mm (F, G). All from Jin-hong Dai and Ying Liu 850 (A, PE, SYS).