Aspidistra yunwuensis S.Z.He & W.F.Xu, 2015

Xu, Wen-Fen, Wang, Yong & He, Shun-Zhi, 2015, A new species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) from Guizhou, China, Phytotaxa 205 (4), pp. 295-298 : 295-298

Aspidistra yunwuensis S.Z.He & W.F.Xu sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 −2)

Type: — CHINA. Guizhou province, Guiding Country, Pingfa Township, under the shrub beside the valley, elevation ca. 780 m, 3 October 2008, S. Z. He et al. 081006 (holotype GZTM!)

Herbs perennial, rhizome creeping, subterete, 4−8 mm thick, covered with scales. Leaf sheaths 3−4, purple-red, 4−9 cm long, enclosing the base of leaves, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, 0.4−1.5 cm apart, leaf blade narrowly oblanceolate, 24−28 × 3−4.5 cm, apex gradually acuminate, base gradually narrowed into petiole; petiole 16−20 cm. Peduncle 1.5−3 cm, purple, erect, keeping the flower more or less horizontally, bracts 2−3, broadly ovate, purple-red, 4−6 × 3−5 mm. Flower solitary; perigone urceolate, 8−9 mm tall, 6(−8)lobed, white or spotted with purple-red outside, whitish-pink inside, perigone tube 5.5−6 mm in length, 10−11 mm in diameter, lobes deltoid, erect, 2.5−3 mm long and ca. 2.8 mm wide at base; stamens 6(−8), inserted at base of the tube, close to pistil base, filaments suberect, ca. 1 mm in length, anthers oblong, ca. 0.9 × 0.7 mm; pollen ovoid, with verrucose ornamentation; pistil 3.5−4.5 mm in length, light purple, style cylindrical, ovary slightly swollen, stigma purple-red, 1.7−1.9 mm in diameter, slightly convex with 3 indistinct radiate grooves on the upper surface, 3-lobed at margin, lobes half round; pollen ovoid, with verrucose ornamentation on the surface. Berry presence of short carpophore-elongated basal part of gynoecium, 1−1.5 cm high, 1.2−1.4 cm in diameter, with small spines. Flowering phase: September to October; Fruiting phase: October to November next year.

Distribution and habitat: — The species grows under shrubs on valley slopes, at 780− 790 m. Distributed in Pingfa Township, Guiding Country, Guizhou province, China.

Additional specimen examined (paratype): — Pingfa Township, Guiding Country, Guizhou Province, China, 3 October. 2008, S. Z. He et al. 081008 (GZTM!).

Taxonomic relationships: — The new species is similar to Aspidistra urceolata F.T.Wang & K.Y.Lang in Lang (1981: 381), Aspidistra triloba F.T.Wang & K.Y.Lang in Lang (1981: 380). The major differences between these species, which are illustrated in Table 1, lie in the leaves, the shape of the perigone tube, the location of stamens insertion, the filaments, and the upper surface characters of the stigma.

Karyotype analysis: — Cells of root tips were used for chromosome count and karyotype analysis. Terminology for position of centromeres on chromosomes follows Levan et al. (1964), and karyotypes following the classification of Stebbins (1971). The chromosome number of A. yunwuensis is 2n = 38, with the karyotype formula 2n = 38 = 16m + 10sm + 10st + 2 stsat. It has eight pairs of long and medium chromosomes and eleven pairs of short chromosomes. The ratio of the longest to the shortest chromosomes is 5.98 and the karyotype symmetry is 2C. The parameters of chromosomes and the photomicrographs of somatic metaphase chromosomes and karyogram of A. yunwuensis are summarised in Figure 2 (I–J). A. yunwuensis is similar to A. triloba and A. urceolata , but the chromosome number of A. triloba is 2n = 36, with the karyotype formula 2n = 36 = 6m + 14sm + 14st + 2 stsat ( Huang et al. 1997), while the chromosome number and karyotype of A. urceolata has not been reported so far.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aspidistra yunwuensis sp. nov. (drawn by Xiang-Li Wu from the holotype). (A) plant habit; (B) flower; (C) longitudinal section of flower; (D) stigma apical view; (E) fruit.

FIGURE 2. Aspidistra yunwuensis sp. nov. (A) habitat; (B) plant habit; (C) flower; (D) longitudinal profile of a flower; (E) stamens and pistil; (F) stigma apical view; (G) stigma abaxial view; (H) fruit; (I) photomicrograph of somatic chromosomes; (J) karyogram; (K) pollen (bar = 10 μm); (L) pollen surface ornamentation (bar = 5 μm).