Aspidistra ovatianthera C.R. Lin & Y.S. Huang, 2023

Lin, Chun-Rui, Xu, Wei-Bin, Huang, Yu-Song, Wang, Bing-Mou & Liu, Yan, 2023, Four new species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) from southern China, Phytotaxa 587 (2), pp. 121-135 : 125

Aspidistra ovatianthera C.R. Lin & Y.S. Huang , sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 , 4 )

TYPE:— CHINA. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Longzhou county, Longgang National Natural Reserve , limestone mountains, in evergreen broad-leaved forests, 106.9878 E, 22.51225 N, alt. 170 m, 22 April 2010, Wei-Bin Xu & Bo Pan 10303 (holotype: IBK!, isotype: IBK!, GXMG!) .

Diagnosis:— Aspidistra ovatianthera is similar to A. typica Baillon (1894: 1129) with the purplish red and urceolar perianth, but clearly distinguished by its leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, base cuneate, pistil umbrella-like shaped, stigma deep 6-lobed at margin, lobes ca. 6 mm long, revolute and bent downwards touching the base of the perigone.

Herbs, perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, subterete, 9–12 mm thick, covered with scales, nodes dense. Vaginate leaves 4–5, purple-red, 1–18 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, becoming black-brown and fibrous when dry. Leaves solitary, ca. 15 mm apart; petiole stiff upright, 25–46 cm long, 2–3 mm thick, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade usually oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 25–36 cm long, 5–8.5 cm wide, dark green and sometimes with small yellow spots on both surfaces, apex acuminate, base cuneate, inequilateral, with midvein prominent at abaxial surface and secondary veins inconspicuous, margin entire. Peduncle arising from the nodes of apical part of rhizome, erect or declining, white to pale purple or purplish red spotted, 8–30 mm long, with 5–6 bracts, terminal 3 or 4 close to flower; the two bracts at the base of perianth broadly ovate, white with purple spots, ca. 1 cm long, 10–15 mm wide, apex subobtuse. Flowers solitary; perianth urceolate, fleshy, 20–25 mm long, externally greenish-white and with purplish red spots with increasing density from base to top, sometimes completely dark purplish red, slightly 6-lobed apically; lobes usually slightly suberect, subequal, ovate-triangular, 5–7 mm long and 2–3 mm wide at base, internally purplish red mottled to completely blackish purple, slightly thickened at base; tube 15–18 mm long, greatest diameter 17–22 mm, the opening reduced to 10–12 mm in diam., internally blackish purple and shallowly verruculose at the upper part of the perigone tube; Stamens 6, opposite to lobes, adpressed to the base of perigone tube, positioned conspicuously lower than stigma; anthers ovate, cordate at base, ca. 5 mm long and 3 mm wide, horizontally spreading with pollen sacs oriented upwards, pollen yellow; filaments have the same shape as anthers, white, 1–1.5 mm long; Pistil umbrellalike shaped, 14–17 mm long, ovary inconspicuous, style short, 3–4 mm in diameter, 2–3 mm long, stigma enlarged, cream-white, glabrous, 15–20 mm in diameter, 12–15 mm high, upper surface the central part slightly convex and sometimes purple-red, with 3 radial, bifurcate lines, its margin sometimes purple-red, deep 6-lobed, lobes 6, subequal, ca. 6 mm long, 6–8 mm wide at base, revolute and bent downwards touching the base of the perigone, lower surface white, with 12, alternating large and small longitudinal ribs. Flowering from January to March.

Etymology:— The species name refers to its ovate, adnate anthers. The Chinese name is “ ẇűƦṚDZDz ”(pinyin: luǎn yào zhî zhű bào dàn).

Distribution and ecology:—At present, Aspidistra ovatianthera is just known from Longzhou county and Daxin county in southwestern Guangxi, China. It grows under broad-leaved evergreen forests, in shaded rocky limestone slopes at elevation range of 170–360 m, not commonly.

Similar species:— Aspidistra ovatianthera is similar to A. typica with the purplish red and urceolate perianth, but differs by its leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate (vs. ovate-lanceolate to ovate), 25–36 × 5–8.5 cm (vs. 18–32 × 7–12), base cuneate (vs. rounded), pistil umbrella-like shaped (vs. peltate), stigma deep 6-lobed at margin (vs. slightly 6-lobed), lobes large revolute and bent downwards touching the base of the perigone (vs. lobes small and flat). The new species also close to A. revoluta H. Zhou, S.R.Yi & Q. Gao in Zhou et al. (2016: 280) with the pistil shape with large revolute stigma lobes that bent downwards and touch the base of the perigone, but can be easily distinguished by the petiole 25–46 cm long (vs. 12–26), leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate (vs. sublinear), 25–36 × 5–8.5 cm (vs. 64–86 ×1.2–2.8), perianth urceolate (vs. widely campanulate to nearly bowl shaped).

Additional specimens examined (paratype):— CHINA. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Longzhou county, Zhubu Town , limestone mountains, alt. 230 m, 27 April 2009, Yu-Song Huang & Bin-Mou Wang H09355 ( IBK); Daxin county , Encheng National Natural Reserve , 21 April 2022, Chun-Rui Lin 1495 ( IBK); Guilin City, Botany Garden of Guilin , taken to cultivation from the type locality, 12 April 2022, Chun-Rui Lin 1475 ( IBK) .

Pollen morphology:— The pollen grains are subspherical, inaperturate, pollen size is (23.06–) 30.90 (–38.82) × (21.65–) 28.45 (–37.65) μm ( Fig. 9C ). Pollen with gemmate exine, the spores are nearly round, different sizes and smooth in surface ( Fig. 9D ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Aspidistra ovatianthera sp. nov.: (A) Flowering plant; (B) Flower dissected opened to show pistil and stamens; (C) Pistil, side view; (D) Stigma, upper and lower view. (Drawn by Wen-Hong Lin)

FIGURE 4. Aspidistra ovatianthera sp. nov.: (A) Flowering plant; (B) Flowers; (C) Flower, upper view; (D) Flower with half of perianth removed showing pistil; (E) Perianth dissected opened to show stamens; (F) Stamens; (G) Stigma, lower view; (H) Stigma, upper view; (I) Pistil, side view.

FIGURE 9. Pollen morphology of Aspidistra under SEM: (A–B) A. shiwandashanensis; (C–D) A. ovatianthera; (E–F) A. yunbiaoi; (G–H) A. xiaoyunii.