Camptotheca acuminata Decaisne Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 20: 157 (1873).

Zhu, Zhen-Hua, Trinh, Ngoc Bon, Hoang, Thanh Son & Li, Bo, 2023, First record of the genus Camptotheca (Nyssaceae) in Vietnam and the lectotypification of C. acuminata, PhytoKeys 235, pp. 129-136 : 129

Camptotheca acuminata Decaisne Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 20: 157 (1873).

Lectotype.

(designated here):-China. Kiang-si (Jiangxi Province): Vallée du Ly-Chan (Lushan Mountain), 1868, A.David 866 (lectotype P00545522! [image available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00545522]; isolectotypes: K000704811! [image available at https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.k000704811] P00545523! [image available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00545523], P00545524! [image available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00545524], P00545525! [image available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00545525]).

Description.

Trees deciduous, to 20 m high; bark light gray, deeply furrowed; young branchlets cylindrical, purplish, with gray pubescence, villous; old branchlets glabrous, sparse round or oval lenticels. Leaves alternative; petiole 1.5-3 cm, flat or slightly grooved above, round below, puberulent when young, and almost glabrous mature, blackish when dry; leaf blade papery, 12-28 × 6-12 cm, oblong-ovate, oblong-elliptic or orbicular, base subrounded, margin entire, apex acute, slightly pubescent and pale green adaxially, greenish and lucid abaxially; pinnate veins both surfaces sparsely pubescent, midrib prominent both surfaces, lateral veins (4-)8-11(-15) pairs, slightly prominent adaxially or slightly prominent only near base abaxially. Inflorescence head, terminal or axillary, 1.5-2 in diam.; peduncle 4-6 cm, cylindrical, puberulent when young, then glabrous. Flowers polygamous; bracts 3, triangular, 2.5-3 mm, both surfaces pubescent; calyx cup-shaped, shallowly 5 lobed; lobes toothed; petals 5, caducous, light green, ca. 2 mm; disk conspicuous; stamens 10, outer 5 longer than, glabrous; filaments slender; anthers tetradymous; style ca. 4 mm, glabrous; stigmas 2. Fruit thinly winged, clustered in a globose head, green when young, yellowish brown after drying, 2.5-3.5 cm × 5-7 mm. Seed 1. Cotyledons lanceolate, 2-4 × ca. 1 cm, pinniveined, with 6-8 lateral veins on each side.

Illustrations.

Fang and Su (1981: 316, fig. 120: 1-7); Yu (1993: 277, fig. 4: 351); Li (1997: 351-352, fig. 1-2); Wu et al. (2007: 322, fig. 322: 1-3).

Phenology.

Flower: May-July, fruit: September.

Distribution and habitat.

Camptotheca acuminata is widely distributed in southern China provinces (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang), and always grows near riverbanks and forest margins below alt. 1000 m. The newly discovered population of C. acuminata is located in northern Vietnam and near the China-Vietnam borders (Fig. 2 ).

Additional specimens examined.

China, Fujian Province: Xiamen City, Siming District, Wanshi Botanical Garden , roadside, elev. 56 m, 24°27'20.2"N, 118°5'38.1"E, 24 June 2020, fr. T.Wang 402 (AU!) ; Hubei Province: Xiaogan City , Dawu County, elev. 445 m, 31°43'5.8"N, 114°19'8.9"E, 03 Nov. 2020, fr. C.Dai DC78 (HIB!) ; Sichuan Province: Leshan City , E’bian Yi Autonomous County, roadsides under forests, elev. 961 m, 29°18'53"N, 103°16'56"E, 25 Nov. 2017, fr. X.J.Li LiXJ830 (KUN!) ; Anhui Province: Xuancheng City, Jingde County, Hui River Protection Area , riversides, elev. 169 m, 30°22'37.2"N, 118°22'55.2"E, 18 Oct. 2016, fr. W.Zhang and H.F.Wang ANUB02040 (ANUB!) ; Guizhou Province: Bijie City, Zhijin County, Qimo Town , Sanjiashan Village , broadleaf forests, elev. 1324 m, 26°41'55.2"N, 105°46'58.4"E, 07 Aug. 2015, fr. L.Chen 522425150807009LY (GZTM!) ; Jiangxi Province: Ganzhou City, Xinfeng County, Jinpen Mountain , valley, elev. 375 m, 25°13'32"N, 115°12'44"E, 03 Oct. 2014, fr. R.P.Kuang LXP03-04734 (HNNU!) ; Hunan Province: Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, Baojing County, Fuxing Town , elev. 397 m, 28°38'53.9"N, 109°44'58.6"E, 12 Aug. 2012, fr. X.J.Su and H.B.Liu 433125D00090811017 (JIU!) . Vietnam. Lai Chau Province: Phong Tho District, Pa Ve Su commune, Mu Sang , Vang Ma Chai , in forests, elev. 1150 m, 22°39'38.48"N, 103°15'29.56"E, 11 June 2023, fr. T.S.Hoang 22039 (VAFS) .

Note.

In the protologue of Camptotheca acuminata , Decaisne (1873) noted its type locality as "Thibet orientale, prov. Moupin, Ly-chan valley" which was proved to be erroneous according to the examination of David’s original collection labels ( Franchet 1884). In fact, the type gathering (A.David 866) was collected by Father Armand David in 1868 from Lushan Mountain of Jiangxi Province, eastern China ( Franchet 1884). When tracing the gathering, we sorted out four separate specimens held at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (P) and one deposited in the herbarium of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K), and confirmed that not a single specimen has been designated as the type. Thus, we here propose the best preserved one simultaneously having flowers and fruits (barcode no. P00545522) as the lectotype of C. acuminata in accordance with the Article 9.3 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) ( Turland et al. 2018).

In Vietnam, only one genus of Nyssaceae was previously recorded, i.e., Nyssa L. As currently known, five species of the genus have been discovered in the country ( Fang et al. 1983; Qin and Chamlong 2007; Tan and Deng 2016; Tagane et al. 2020), viz., Nyssa javanica (Blume) Wangerin, Nyssa sinensis Oliv., Nyssa bifida Craib, Nyssa bidoupensis Tagane & Yahara and Nyssa hongiaoensis Tagane & Komada. With the supplement of Camptotheca and C. acuminata to the Vietnamese flora, the Nyssaceae is now represented by two genera and six species. Thus, a key to all species of Nyssaceae in Vietnam is provided below.

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Camptotheca acuminata in China (green stars) and Vietnam (blue circle).