identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
F3A67E91661E579F95849BFFCD47F715.text	F3A67E91661E579F95849BFFCD47F715.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Primula maershanensis J. L. Gu & Z. K. Wu 2026	<div><p>Primula maershanensis J. L. Gu &amp; Z. K. Wu sp. nov.</p><p>Figs 1, 2, 3 A, 4 A</p><p>Diagnosis.</p><p>The new species is most similar to P. sinensis, P. rupestris, and P. jiangyouensis in sharing leaves and stems covered with hairs, lobed leaf blades, distinctly petiolate leaves, and a distinctively broad and flat-bottomed calyx. However, it is distinguished from the latter three mainly by several morphological features: a short rhizome and nearly fleshy roots; subpurple petioles and scapes; leaf blade suborbicular, wider than long, palmately 5–9 - lobed to approximately 1 / 2 of its blade, long-homostylous flowers with a bright yellow corolla (Figs 1, 2). For a more accurate delimitation of all known species in this section, we observed living plants and captured their photographs, in addition to examining herbarium specimens of the other seven species within this section (Figs 3, 4). The main morphological distinctions between P. maershanensis and P. jiangyouensis, P. sinensis, and P. rupestris are summarized in Table 1.</p><p>Type.</p><p>China • Sichuan: Guangyuan, Jiange County, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=105.55667&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=32.181114" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 105.55667/lat 32.181114)">Jianmenguan town, Maer Mountain</a>. 32°10'52"N, 105°33'24"E, 810 m alt., 18 January 2026 (fl.), Zhikun Wu ZKWU 2026010 (holotype: KUN!; isotype: CSH!) .</p><p>Description.</p><p>Perennial herb, with aerial parts densely covered with short glandular hairs; rhizomes short, 1–2 cm long and roots fleshy, purplish-brown to pale purple. Leaves mostly clustered at the apex of the rhizome in a rosette, including the petiole 4–20 cm long; petiole 2–13 cm long, densely covered with short glandular hairs, purplish-red; leaf blade suborbicular, 1–7 cm long, 2–8 cm wide, palmately 5–9 - lobed to approximately 1 / 2 of its blade; lobes secondarily 3 - lobed, lobules with 1–3 teeth, apex obtuse, slightly thick when fresh, papery when dry, midvein prominent, lateral veins in 2–4 pairs, adaxially slightly impressed and densely covered with short glandular hairs, abaxially raised and densely covered with glandular hairs along the veins. Scapes 6–24 cm tall, purplish-red; scapes with 1–5 whorls, each whorl with 3–10 flowers. Bracts lanceolate, entire, 8–15 mm long, apex acute, densely glandular hairy. Pedicel 1.5–5 cm long, densely glandular hairy. Calyx 7–15 mm long, base inflated and hemispherical, 5–10 mm in diameter, enlarging to 8–15 mm in diameter in fruit, mostly 5 - lobed, lobes incised to one-third of its length, lobes triangular, outer surface is densely covered with short glandular hairs, while the inner surface is glabrous. Corolla bright yellow, limb 1.8–3.5 cm in diameter, throat orange-yellow, without an annular appendage; lobes obcordate, margin entire or lobed, apex bifid, with a pale orange blotch at the base. Flower long-homostylous, corolla tube 15–19 mm long, stamens inserted near the mouth of the corolla tube, 13–17 mm from the base of the corolla tube; style 9–14 mm long, nearly reaching or slightly exceeding the stamens. Capsule long-conical, 5–10 mm in diameter, shorter than the calyx. Seeds globose or ovoid, approximately 1.0 mm in diameter, finely vesicular-surfaced.</p><p>Distribution and habitat.</p><p>The new species is currently known from the type locality near Maershan Scenic Area, Jianmenguan Town, Jiange County, Sichuan Province, China, and is primarily distributed in shady ledges of conglomerate cliffs at elevations between 800 and 1,050 meters. (Fig. 1; Map 1).</p><p>Phenology.</p><p>The species was observed to flower from December to February of the following year, fruiting from March to April.</p><p>Etymology.</p><p>The specific epithet of the new species is taken from the Chinese Pinyin "Maershan," the name of the county in northern Sichuan, China, where the type specimen was collected (Map 1).</p><p>Vernacular name.</p><p>Chinese Mandarin: "ma er shan bao chun“ (马耳山报春).</p><p>Provisional conservation status.</p><p>Critically Endangered (CR B 1 ab (iii)). The distribution range of this species is highly restricted, with records currently limited to its type locality in the Maershan Scenic Area. According to field observations, this species grows on shady ledges of conglomerate cliffs at elevations between 800 and 1,050 meters, and the total number of mature individuals across the population is fewer than 500. The principal threatening processes include (1) climate change-induced alteration of microclimatic conditions and (2) tourism development. Applying the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (Version 16.0, 2024), this assessment demonstrates that P. maershanensis meets the threshold for Critically Endangered (CR) status under criterion B 1 ab (iii), based on extent of occurrence (EOO) &lt;100 km 2 (B 1), severely fragmented habitat and only one location (a), with continuing decline (b), area, extent, and quality of habitat (iii).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F3A67E91661E579F95849BFFCD47F715	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Sheng, Ming-yun;Wu, Yuan-mi;Gu, Jiu-lin;Lin, Hong-qiang;Zhou, Wei;Zheng, Lei;Wu, Zhi-kun	Sheng, Ming-yun, Wu, Yuan-mi, Gu, Jiu-lin, Lin, Hong-qiang, Zhou, Wei, Zheng, Lei, Wu, Zhi-kun (2026): Primula maershanensis (Primulaceae), a new species in Primula sect. Auganthus from Sichuan, China. PhytoKeys 274: 61-71, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.274.191386
