Huchimingia weizhii (Z.Q. Song) Z.Q. Song

Song, Zhu-Qiu, Li, Shi-Jin & Mattapha, Sawai, 2022, Huchimingia, a new genus segregated from Millettia (Leguminosae, Millettieae) based on morphological and molecular evidence, Phytotaxa 532 (1), pp. 37-56 : 51

5. Huchimingia weizhii (Z.Q. Song) Z.Q. Song , comb. nov.

≡ Millettia weizhii Z.Q. Song, Nordic J. Bot. 37(3)-e01964: 2, Figs. 1–3 . 2019 ( Song et al. 2019).

Type: CHINA. Yunnan Province, Mengla County, Mengyuan, Daoban , 995 m, 8 Apr 2013, Jian-Wu Li 2986 (holotype: HITBC! [150677] ; isotype: KUN! [1251989]).

Description. A full description for this species was provided by Song et al. (2019).

Distribution and ecology. Huchimingia weizhii is known from China (Yunnan). It grows in limestone forests at an altitude of 700–1000 m. It flowers before leaves expand, from January to February, and fruits from March to September. This species was recently evaluated as ‘Endangered’ (EN) by Song et al. (2019).

Notes. Due to its standard petal with inflexed auricles and pods with four wings, this species was previously placed in Millettia sect. Fragiliflorae Dunn by Song et al. (2019), who also pointed out its similarity with Millettia sect. Podocarpae Dunn. But it should be included in the genus Huchimingia by having large, subglobose, scaly buds ( Fig. 3E ), pseudoracemes with very indistinct brachyblasts, two flowers on each brachyblast, conspicuous large bracts (mistakenly described as bracteoles by Song et al. (2019)), ebracteolate calyx, hollow receptacle, and stipitate ovary and pod ( Fig. 3F ). The systematic position of this species within Huchimingia was also well supported by molecular evidence ( Fig. 1 ).

Additional specimens examined. CHINA. Yunnan: Mengla, 780 m, 15 May 1962, Yan-Hui Li 4100 (HITBC [HITBC0012680], KUN [0618089]), 900 m, 2 Jun 1982, Exped. 32690 (HITBC [HITBC0013679]), 1000 m, Sep 1992, Hong Wang 1223 (HITBC [HITBC0013678]), Hong Wang 1246 (HITBC [HITBC0013677]), 995 m, 21 Dec 2017, Zhu-Qiu Song 2017006 (IBSC), 995 m, 31 Jan 2018, Kai Zhang 007 (IBSC), 25 Apr 2019, Bin Yang G2-248 (HITBC), 9 May 2019, Bin Yang G2-408 (HITBC), 20 Aug 2020, Zhu-Qiu Song 202038 (IBSC), 30 Mar 2021, Zhu-Qiu Song 2021014 (IBSC).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of the tribe Millettieae and close relatives based on the concatenated plastid matK and nuclear ITS sequences. The blue fonts indicate samples of Millettia species. The grey cover shows the representative of the new genus Huchimingia and its sister taxa Antheroporum and Ohashia (green fonts). SH-aLRT (SH) and ultrafast bootstrap (BS) support values from maximum likelihood analyses, and posterior probabilities (PP) from Bayesian inference are displayed near the branches (SH/BS/PP).

FIGURE 2. Morphology of Huchimingia ichthyochtona (Drake) Z.Q. Song. A habit B leafy branch C ungerminated bud D germinating bud, showing ciliate scales E part of leaflets, showing the asymmetric base and no stipel F pseudoraceme, showing the indistinct brachyblasts with two flowers, scale bar = 4 cm G flowering branches H bract subtending the indistinct brachyblast I floral bracts J undissected and dissected flowers, scale bar = 1 cm K pod and seeds, scale bar = 4 cm. Photograph by Zhu-Qiu Song.

FIGURE 3. Morphology of Huchimingia podocarpa (Dunn) Z.Q. Song (A–C) and H. weizhii (Z.Q. Song) Z.Q. Song (D–F). A fruiting branches B ungerminated bud C unopened and opened pods, showing the position of seeds (red arrows) D leafy branch E germinating bud, showing ciliate scales F stipitate pods. Scale bars = 4 cm. Photograph by Zhu-Qiu Song.