Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum Good (1929: 297)

Wang, Long, Ren, Chen & Yang, Qin-Er, 2017, Cremanthodium lingulatum (Asteraceae, Senecioneae) is merged with C. pseudooblongatum, Phytotaxa 311 (1), pp. 57-66 : 61-64

Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum Good (1929: 297) . Figs. 1 , 2 , 5−7 .

Type:— CHINA. Xizang: Nyingchi, Tumbatse (= Dongbacai), 10000−11000 feet (= 3000−3300 m) a.s.l., 13 July 1924, F. Kingdon-Ward

5931 ( E00413148 !, lectotype designated here; isolectotypes BM!, K!). Fig. 5 . = Cremanthodium lingulatum Liu (1984: 57) , syn. nov. Type:— CHINA. Xizang: Nyingchi, western slope of Sejila Shan , 4300 m a.s.l., 2 August 1975, Qinghai-Xizang Suppl. Exped. 75-1044

(holotype HNWP!; isotypes HNWP!, KUN!, PE!). Fig. 1 .

Perennial herbs, grayish green, glabrous. Rhizome short, surrounded by remains of withered petioles. Stems erect, to 60 cm tall, ca. 3 mm in diameter at base. Basal leaves more or less petiolate or subsessile; petiole to 10 cm long, slender, base sheathed; leaf blade ovate-oblong, oblong or elliptic, 2.5−12 cm long, 1.4−8 cm wide, pinnately veined, adaxially bright green, abaxially grayish green, base subtruncate, subcuneate or occasionally very shallowly cordate, apex rotund, obtuse or acute, margin entire or slightly mucronate; pinnate veins slightly sunken adaxially, slightly prominent abaxially. Stem leaves 2−6; proximal stem leaves smaller than basal leaves, sessile or shortly petiolate, erect; leaf blade usually lingulate-spatulate or lingulate-oblong, margin entire, base amplexicaul; middle and distal stem leaves sessile, leaf blade ovate-oblong or oblong, tubular-amplexicaul, margin entire, apex acute or acuminate. Leaf-like bracteoles below capitulum 1 or 2, often linear-lanceolate. Capitula 1−3 (−4), nodding, solitary or arranged in a lax raceme. Involucre hemispheric, ca. 1.5 cm high, 1.5−2 cm in diameter, grayish green, outside glabrous; phyllaries 11−14, in 2 rows; outer ones lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2−4 mm broad, margin entire, apex acuminate; inner ones oblong, 5−7 mm broad, margin membranous, apex acute or obtuse. Ray florets 8−12, yellow; lamina linear-lanceolate, 1.5−3 cm long, ca. 3−5 mm broad, apex acute to acuminate; tube ca. 2 mm long. Tubular florets numerous, yellow, 1−1.5 cm long; tube ca. 2 mm long; limb ca. 5 mm long. Achenes dark brown, oblong, 3−5 mm long. Pappus white, 5−8 mm long, as long as or longer than tubular corolla.

Distribution and habitat: — Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum is distributed in southeastern Xizang, China ( Fig. 9 ). It grows in alpine meadows or alpine scrub at elevations between 3300–5000 m above sea level.

Phenology: —Flowering July to August; fruiting September.

Additional specimens examined: — CHINA. Xizang: Bomi, B.S. Li & S.Z. Cheng 00689 (PE), Qinghai-Xizang Veget. Exped. 10092 (PE), G.C. Xia & T.K. Mi 726 (PE), T.S. Ying & D.Y. Hong 65-1010 (PE); Gongbo’gyamda, F. Ludlow et al. 15475 (E), F. Ludlow et al. 15786 (E); Mainling, F. Ludlow et al. 5993 (E), Xizang Med. Plant Exped. 4019 (HNWP, PE); Nyingchi, Anonymous 2264 (PE), Y.S. Chen & Z.H. Wang 9382 (KUN, PE), B.Z. Kuo & W.Y. Wang 23248 (HNWP), F. Ludlow et al. 5101 (E), J. Luo et al. 049 (KUN), L. Wang et al. 1034 (IBSC), G. Yao 2200 (NAS), W.L. Zhen 0198 (XZE).

Notes: —In his account of Cremanthodium Bentham (1873: 37) in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, Liu (1989) placed C. pseudo-oblongatum to C. sect. Pinnatinervia (“ Pinnatinervus ”) Ling & Liu in Liu (1982: 51) ser. Oblongata Ling & Liu in Liu (1989: 145). From a morphological perspective, this species may better be transferred to C. sect. Pinnatinervia ser. Glauca Ling & Liu in Liu (1989: 140).

Cremanthodium glaucum Handel-Mazzetti (1937: 641) , a species in northwestern Yunnan (Weixi, Zhongdian), is most closely similar to C. pseudo-oblongatum , differing slightly only in the shape and length of the ray lamina (lanceolate, 1−2.6 cm long vs. linear-lanceolate, 1.5−3 cm long). Another species, C. yadongense Liu (1984: 62) , which is currently known only from the holotype (P.C. Tsoong 5832; PE) collected from Yadong in southern Xizang, is also most closely similar to C. pseudo-oblongatum . Both species differ mainly in the pubescence of stem and involucre and the shape of leaf base. In C. yadongense , the stem is brown pubescent distally, the involucre is abaxially brown pubescent at base, and the leaf base is often obviously cordate. In C. pseudo-oblongatum , both the stem and involucre are glabrous, and the leaf base is only occasionally very shallowly cordate. As a result, the occurrence of C. pseudooblongatum in the western Himalaya, northern India (Sikkim) and Bhutan ( Good 1929, Grierson & Springate 2001) remains to be verified. The specimens from these regions previously referred to C. pseudo-oblongatum , such as R. Lepcha 505 (E; cited as a paratype of C. pseudo-oblongatum ) from Sikkim, seem to match perfectly the holotype of C. yadongense in all characters. The type locality of C. yadongense , i.e. Yadong in southern Xizang, is contiguous to Sikkim. Indeed, further studies, particularly observations on living plants in the field, are needed to clarify the relationships between C. glaucum , C. pseudo-oblongatum and C. yadongense .

Marquand (1929) referred the type collection of C.pseudo-oblongatum, F.Kingdon-Ward 5931,to C. bupleurifolium Smith (1913: 112) , a species distributed in southwestern Sichuan (Muli) and northwestern Yunnan (Dêqên). Hu (1966) also did so, although in the same paper she recognized C. pseudo-oblongatum as a separate species and cited F. Kingdon-Ward 5931 as its type. Morphologically C. bupleurifolium differs immediately from C. pseudo-oblongatum by the absence of pappus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype (A) and isotype (B–D) sheets of Cremanthodium lingulatum (= C. pseudo-oblongatum).

FIGURE 2. Paratype sheets of Cremanthodium lingulatum (= C. pseudo-oblongatum).

FIGURE 5. Lectotype (A) and isolectotype (B) sheets of Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum.

FIGURE 6. Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum in the wild (China, Xizang, Nyingchi).A. Habitat. B−D. Habit. E. Rhizome. F. Portion of stem. G. Leaf blade (adaxial surface). H. Leaf blade (abaxial surface).

FIGURE 7. Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongatum in the wild (China, Xizang, Nyingchi). A. Capitulum (top view). B. Capitulum (back view). C. Capitulum (side view). D. Outer phyllaries (abaxial surface). E. Inner phyllaries (abaxial surface). F. Ray florets. G. Tubular florets.

FIGURE 9. Distribution of Cremanthodium pseudo-oblongtaum (●).