Corispermum iljinii Sukhor. & M.Zhang, 2014

Sukhorukov, Alexander P., Zhang, Mingli & Nilova, Maya V., 2014, The carpology and taxonomy of some Chinese Corispermum (Amaranthaceae s. l.), Phytotaxa 172 (2), pp. 81-93 : 83-84

Corispermum iljinii Sukhor. & M.Zhang , sp. nov.

Type: — CHINA. Ningxia: Zhongwei , October 1964, Liu s.n. (holotype PE-01659707!) ( Fig. 1 ) .

Diagnosis: —Annual to 30 cm, branched from the base, with ascending shoots, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, 3–5 mm wide. Spikes elongated. Bract ovoid, completely covering the fruit. Perianth of 1 segment. Fruit ovoid, 2.7–3 × 1.6–1.8 mm, fruit surface ( Fig. 2) without stellate hairs but with conspicuous areas where the pericarp is detached from the seed coat (looking like warts), scattered papillae and brown pigment cells, round or acute at apex, wing not visible with the naked eye.

Ecology and distribution: —A label attached to additional specimens examined (Qinghai, Kokonor) contains information about the ecology of C. iljinii : “Plain with sparse herbs (many chenopods and grasses), some small sand dunes with denser vegetation; margins mostly planted with Populus or with Hippophae thickets, soils often incrusted with salt. Dry slopes dominated by tussocks of Achnatherum . Growing in open sandy areas, commonest on sand dunes”. C. iljinii is known in the provinces Ningxia and Qinghai.

IUCN Red List Category: —The appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution of the taxon is lacking. It can be included in the Data Deficient (DD) as well as Not Evaluated (NE) categories of IUCN Red List categories ( IUCN 2010) as there is inadequate information to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status.

Etymology: —The new species is dedicated to Modest M. Iljin (1889-1967), Professor at the Leningrad (St.- Petersburg) Botanical Institute, an expert on the Eurasian Chenopodiaceae .

Taxonomical notes: —All specimens of C. iljinii used to be identified as C. heptapotamicum or C. declinatum . The most remarkable character of the new species is the wart-like fruit surface with no marginal wing. The fruits resemble those of C. tylocarpum , but the length/width ratio is 1.5–1.7:1 (not 2:1), and also there are some differences in fruit anatomy (details provided below). The name C. iljinii cannot be applied to the varieties of C. tibeticum and C. lepidocarpum described by Huang (1995) from Qinghai province due to the differences in fruit characters.

Additional specimens seen ( Fig. 3 ):— CHINA. Ningxia: Tongxin , 13August 1981, Yu & Xu 1784 (PE-01659710) . Qinghai, Kokonor: Gonghe Xian, Kyikug Xiang : along the Kyikug He river , NW of its junction with the Huang He ( Yellow river ), elev. 2500 m, 36 o 12’N, 100 o 43’E, heavily grazed broad plain and adjacent dry slopes, 18 September 1996, Ho, Bartholomew, Watson et Gilbert 3095 (PE-01659709, only the specimen on the left side, the specimen on the right side belongs to C. pseudofalcatum ) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of C. iljinii (PE).

FIGURE 3. The distribution of C. iljinii (dots), C. nanum (triangles) and C. dutreuilii var. montanum (asterisk) based on the specimens seen.