Trollius austrosibiricus Erst & Luferov, 2019

Erst, Andrey, Luferov, Alexander, Troshkina, Victoria, Shaulo, Dmitry, Kuznetsov, Alexander, Xiang, Kunli & Wang, Wei, 2019, Trollius austrosibiricus (Ranunculaceae), a new species from South Siberia, PhytoKeys 115, pp. 83-92 : 83

Trollius austrosibiricus Erst & Luferov sp. nov. Figs 2 , 3

Type.

RUSSIA. Tuva Republic: Mongun-Tayga region, Tsagan-Shibetu ridge, the upper Barlyk river, valley of the right tributary, the lower part of the south-eastern slope (5 º), forb-grass-sedge steppe meadow, 2350 m alt., flowering, 22 Jul 1980, V. Khanminchun, M. Danilov & P. Enns without collector number (holotype: NS barcode 0013097!).

Diagnosis.

Trollius austrosibiricus is morphologically close to T. chinensis Bunge and T. macropetalus (Regel) Fr.Schmidt. It differs from these species in simple rhizomes, shorter aerial shoots, smaller flowers and shorter persistent styles. The new species is distinguished from T. asiaticus L. by a smaller number of sepals, longer persistent styles and petals longer than sepals.

Description.

Herbs perennial, (20 –)40– 70 cm high. Rhizomes simple or slightly branching, short, erect or arched, with a bundle of adventitious roots. Stems straight, simple, less often weakly branched, slightly grooved. Basal leaves (1 –)2– 4, spirally-alternate, congested in a basal rosette; petioles 10 –25(– 35) cm long; blades 4-7 × 5-8 cm, rhomboid, 3 –5(– 7)-lobed, segments dissected almost to the midrib into lobes, ending sharply with edges dentate. Cauline leaves 2 –5(– 7), opposite, with short petioles or sessile, gradually smaller towards the apex. Inflorescence terminal, 1(-2)-flowered. Flowers 3.5 –4.5(– 5.5) cm diam.; pedicels 5-12 cm long, elongating in fruit up to 8-15 cm long; sepals 8 –10(– 14), 1.3-2.4 × 0.8-1.5 cm, rhombic-ovate or broadly elliptic, reddish-orange or yellow-orange; petals 9-18, 2-2.8 × 0.2-0.3 cm, oblong-lanceolate, slightly wider at middle, base narrow cuneate, apex acute, orange- or reddish-orange coloured, nectarostigma 2.5-3 mm from base; stamens more than (9)10, filaments 7-11mm long, anthers 1.5 –2(– 2.5) mm long, linear; Fruits aggregate, with 9-14(17) follicles, 10-15 mm long, persistent style 1.5-3.0 mm long, slightly incurved.

Specimens seen

(paratypes). Russia. Tuva Republic: Western Sayan, Kurtushibinskiy ridge, the upper Mynas river, right tributary of the Hut river, forb-grass meadow, 1080 m alt., 6 Jul 1989, D. Shaulo & I. Kovaleva 4695 (NS barcode 0013098!); Mongun-Tayga region, valley of Tolayty river, yernik-sedge wetland meadow, 2500 m alt., 26 Jul 1980, M. Danilov & A. Krytsin 932 (NS barcode 0013096!); the northern slope of the East Tannu-Ola ridge, the average flow of Elegest river, floodplain, No., 22 Jul 1973, V. Khanminchun & V. Dyukov 2270 (NS barcode 0013095!); Kemerovo Oblast: Tashtagol region, the village of Ust-Kabyrza 4 km above Pysas river, 52°48'N, 88°28'E, 450 m alt., grass meadow, haymaking, 11 Sep 2000, I. M. Krasnoborov, A. I. Shmakov, D. Germann, S. Kostyukov, E. Antonuk, P. Kosachev & A. Vashchenko 207 (NS barcode 0013094!); Krasnoyarsk Krai: Abansky region, near Ustyanskoye village, the upper part of the eastern slope, upland meadow, 6 Jul 1956 T. Vagina (NS barcode 0013093!); Ermakovsky district, valley of the US river, elevation 852 m alt., 52.2847°N, 93.2517°E, 03 Jul 2010, I.V. Khan & E.A. Balde 152 (NSK barcode 0028601!); Khakassia Republic: Abansky ridge, near Biskamzha station, southern slope, burning, 53.25N, 089.30E, 700 m alt., 4 Jun 1991, E. Ankipovich (NS barcode 0013092!).

Affinities.

Trollius austrosibiricus is morphologically close to T. chinensis Bunge and T. macropetalus (Regel) Fr.Schmidt. It is well distinguished by simple rhizomes (rather than by the multi-headed basal part of the plant, as in T. chinensis and T. macropetalus ), shorter aerial shoots, smaller flowers and shorter persistent styles (Table 1 ). Trollius chinensis is an East Asian species occurring in Russia (Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories, Sakhalin), in the north and northeast of China and on the Korean peninsula ( Schipczinsky 1937, Siplivinsky 1972, Doroczewska 1974, Kitagawa 1979, Woroshilov 1982, Luferov 1991, 2004).

This new species is distinguished from T. asiaticus L. by a smaller number of sepals, longer persistent styles and petals longer than sepals (Table 1 ). Trollius asiaticus grows mainly in extra-tropical Asia (Western and Eastern Siberia, Mongolia, northeast Kazakhstan and China), as well as in the northeast of European Russia ( Schipczinsky 1937, Siplivinsky 1972, Doroczewska 1974, Borodina-Grabovskaya 2001, Friesen 2003).

Phenology.

Flowering from April–early May; fruiting in May.

Distribution.

Trollius austrosibiricus is endemic to mountainous areas of the southern part of Western and Central Siberia. Russia: Tuva Republic, Kemerovo district, Krasnoyarsk territory, Khakassia (Figure 1 ).

Habitat and ecology.

Trollius austrosibiricus grows in subalpine and forest zones, in moist valleys at 350-2400 m elevation. It occurs in forest glades and fringes, in mixed-grass and mixed-grass-cereal dry and swampy meadows, along the banks of rivers, streams and small ponds with fresh water.

Etymology.

The specific epithet of the new species is derived from the type locality, South Siberia, Russia.

Preliminary conservation assessment.

No appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution of the taxon are available. It can be included in the Not Evaluated (NE) category of IUCN Red List Categories ( IUCN 2016) as it lacks adequate information to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status.

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution map of Trollius austrosibiricus.

Figure 2. Photograph of Trollius austrosibiricus. A Flowering plant B Flower C Leaf laminae (Photographs by E. Balde and A. Erst).

Figure 3. Trollius austrosibiricus. A General view B Sepal C Petal D Stamen E Fruit F Follicle. Scale bar: 1 cm (A-F).