Aquilegia × emodi Erst, 2020

Erst, Andrey S., Pendry, Colin A., Erst, Tatyana V., Ikeda, Hiroshi, Xiang, Kunli & Wang, Wei, 2020, Two new taxa and one new record of Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae) from India and Pakistan, Phytotaxa 439 (2), pp. 108-118 : 113

2. Aquilegia × emodi Erst nothosp. nov.

Diagnosis:— Aquilegia × emodi is a putative hybrid between A. pubiflora and A. bashahrica . It has morphological characters intermediate between the two species, such as large, bicoloured flowers, black, yellow or mixed stamens, and straight or hooked spurs. Type:— INDIA. [Himachal Pradesh State, Shimla districts], Narkanda, 10 May 1890, Lace 60 (holotype, E00913515!). Fig. 3.

Description:—Flowers bicoloured (sepals and spurs violet or purple, petal laminae yellow or greenish white (light yellow) at apex). Sepals oblong-acuminate. Petals yellow, oblong-obovate, rounded at the apex, bent outwards, shorter than sepals and longer than spurs; spurs straight or hooked, basally not inflated, thinned towards the apex, with black clavate tip. Stamens equal to petal laminae. Anthers yellow, rarely bicoloured, yellow and blackish.

Habitat: —Mountainous forests, 2000–2600 m a.s.l.

Phenology: —Flowering April–May; fruiting May–August.

Additional specimen examined (paratypes):— INDIA. [Himachal Pradesh State, Shimla districts], Chamba District, Chuari , 7000 ft, 23 May 1878, Watt 526 (E00913518) ; Chuari Pass , 8000 ft, 20 May 1878, Watt 2039 (E00913517!) ; Kashmir, Hunsa , 15 Juny 1878, Watt 2562 (E00913516!) ; Himachal Pradesh, Shimla district, Narkanda Forest , 8000 ft., 10 May 1890, Lace 60 (E00913513!) ; Narkanda , 10 May 1890, Lace 60 (E00913514!) ; Kashmir: Pahlgam , 7-9000 ft., 10 Aug 1927, R.R. Stewart 9296 [flowering and fruiting] (K001392474!) .