Aspidistra globosa Vislobokov & Nuraliev

Averyanov, Leonid V., Nguyen, Van Canh, Bui, Van Huong, Vuong, Truong Ba, Wynn-Jones, Bleddyn, Nuraliev, Maxim S., Maisak, Tatiana V., Krupkina, Ludmila I., Luu, Hong Truong, Nguyen, Khang Sinh & Nguyen, Van Khuong, 2024, Novelties in Aspidistra (Asparagaceae, Convallarioideae) with erect stems in the flora of Vietnam: A. quanii, a new species, and A. erecta, a new national record, Phytotaxa 640 (1), pp. 39-49 : 43

Aspidistra globosa Vislobokov & Nuraliev in Vislobokov et al. (2016: 47)

( Fig. 1 & 3 )

Type: — VIETNAM. Gia Lai Province: Mang Yang District, A Yun Municipality, Kon Ka Kinh National Park, 31 km WNW of K’Bang town, forest, near earth road, 14°14'05''N 108°18'29''E, elev. 1390 m, 12 May 2016, M. S. Nuraliev, A. N. Kuznetsov, S. P. Kuznetsova 1470 (holotype MW MW 0595639 https://depo.msu.ru/open/public/en/item/ MW 0595639, analytical photos of living plants used for the preparation of the type specimen LE LE 01124757 https:// en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=211177).

Ecology and phenology: —Primary evergreen broad-leaved forests at elevations of 900–1530 m a.s.l., in valleys of small rivers and on local peaks and ridges. Locally common. Flowers in March–May.

Distribution: — Vietnam: Gia Lai Province (Kon Ka Kinh National Park).

Conservation status: —Distribution of A. globosa is known to be limited by the territory of the Kon Ka Kinh National Park, which has a total area of 417.8 km ², making the species extent of occurrence (EOO) less than 5000 km 2 and the area of occupancy (AAO) less than 500 km 2. At the same time, the area occupied by the single known population suffers from selective logging and the continuing decline of habitat quality (biii). These conditions indicate the species conservation status as Endangered (EN) following the criteria B1ab(iii) + B2ab(iii) proposed by the IUCN (2023).

Notes: —The protologue of A. globosa described this species as having a constantly erect stem. However, the newly obtained material (Nuraliev 1884, Vuong, Son, BV 1143, and Nguyen et al. GL 08) revealed more complicated structure of its shoot system. The orthotropic flower-bearing shoots are borne on long plagiotropic shoots. The plagiotropic shoots are mostly creeping along the ground, or supported above the ground by prop roots. The plagiotropic shoots are structurally similar to the orthotropic ones (possibly apart from being dorsiventral), and in particular, they have long internodes, being different in this respect from the typical plagiotropic rhizomes of Aspidistra . At the same time, the available material suggests that the flowers are produced exclusively by the orthotropic shoots.

Additional specimens examined:— VIETNAM. Gia Lai Province: Mang Yang District, A Yun Municipality, Kon Ka Kinh National Park , 31 km WNW of K’Bang town, forest, not far from river, near forest hut, 14°13'13''N 108°19'01''E, elev. 1000 m, 10 May 2016, M.S. Nuraliev, A.N. Kuznetsov, S.P. Kuznetsova 1444 (paratype MW MW0595640 https://depo.msu.ru/open/public/en/item/MW0595640, photos LE LE01124756 https://en.herbariumle. ru/?t=occ&id=211176) ; Gia Lai Province: Mang Yang District, A Yun Municipality, Kon Ka Kinh National Park , 31 km WNW of K’Bang town, forest, around point 14°14'05''N 108°18'29''E, elev. ca. 1400 m, 17–20 May 2016, M.S. Nuraliev, A.N. Kuznetsov, S.P. Kuznetsova s.n. (photos LE LE01124758 https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=211178, LE01124759 https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=211179) ; Gia Lai Province: Mang Yang District, A Yun Municipality, Kon Ka Kinh National Park , 31 km WNW of K’Bang town, disturbed forest, 14°12'30''N 108°19'00''E, elev. 900 m, 30 May 2017, M.S. Nuraliev 1884 (photos LE LE01124760 https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=211180) ; living plant from the same gathering in culture; Gia Lai Province: Mang Yang District, Kon Ka Kinh National Park, A Yun Commune , evergreen broad-leaved forest on sandstone submontain, around point 14°13'38.39"N 108°18'46.42"E, at elevation 900–1080 m a.s.l., perennial herb about 40–70 cm tall, short plant with erect stem, long plant having a procumbent proximal portion and a short erect to suberect apical portion, perigone greenish white to light yellow-green white or yellow-green cream, very common along stream to slope of mountains, 5 March 2020, Nguyen Sinh Khang et al. GL 08 ( HN, photos LE LE01124771 https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=211765), Gia Lai Province: Kon Ka Kinh National Park , 14°13.229'N 108°18.992'E, elev. 1000 m, 24 March 2021, Truong Ba Vuong, Dang Van Son, BV 1143 (photos LE LE01090906 https://en.herbariumle.ru/?t=occ&id=82349) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution map of Aspidistra erecta, A. globosa and A. quanii (the map is not aimed to show countries in their entire borders).

FIGURE 3. Aspidistra globosa. A. Sterile plant in natural habitat (showing plagiotropic and orthotropic shoots). B. Distal portion of plagiotropic shoot bearing orthotropic shoot. C. Old portions of plagiotropic and orthotropic shoots. D. Flowering plant (showing plagiotropic and orthotropic shoots). E, F. Portions of orthotropic shoots bearing flowers. A–C: Nuraliev 1884, photos by M. Nuraliev; D–F: Truong Ba Vuong, Dang Van Son, BV 1143, photos by Truong Ba Vuong.