Cornus sunhangii T.Deng, Z.Y.Lv & Zhi M.Li, 2019

Lv, Zhen-Yu, Huang, Xian-Han, Zhang, Xu, Yusupov, Ziyoviddin, Wang, Heng-Chang, Tojibaev, Komiljon, Deng, Tao & Li, Zhi-Min, 2019, Cornus sunhangii (Cornaceae), a new species from Tibet (China), Phytotaxa 409 (5), pp. 273-282 : 277-279

Cornus sunhangii T.Deng, Z.Y.Lv & Zhi M.Li , sp. nov.

Diagnosis: — Cornus sunhangii is similar to C. capitata , from which it is distinguished by larger fruit size (ca. 7 cm in diameter), longer peduncle of 5.5–6.5 cm and sparser trichomes that are white and brown in the epidermis of leaves ( Table 1).

Type: — CHINA. Tibet: Mêdog County, Bari , elev. ca. 1988 m, 95.38000E, 29.31806N, 6 October 2018, H. Sun et al. 19991 (holotype KUN1347138 !; isotypes KUN1347139 !, KUN1347140 !) .

Description: —Trees, 4–8 m tall, bark grayish brown. Leaves opposite, leathery; petiole cylindrical, 0.6–2 cm long, bending inward; blade narrowly elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 9–13 × 2.5–6 cm, base shortly caudate, margin entire or slightly undulate, apex acuminate or short caudate, adaxial green or grayish green, abaxial light green, surface sparsely pubescent with white appressed trichomes, axils of veins with white and brown trichomes; veins 3 or 4, obvious, bulge in abaxial, with sparse brown trichomes. Inflorescences pedunculate; peduncle (3–) 5–6.5 cm, succulent; cymes globose, ca. 1.1 cm in diameter, ca. 80 flowered; bracts 4, white, 4.5–5.6 × 2–3 cm, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, apex mucronate, sparsely pubescent with brownish appressed fine trichomes. Infructescences compressed or subglobose, 6–8 cm in diameter, light green before maturity. Seeds 1 per carpet, ellipsoid, obovoid or comma-shaped, ca. 0.8 × 0.5 cm ( Figs. 1 & 2 ).

Distribution and habitat: — Cornus sunhangii is known only from near Bari Village, Mêdog County, southeastern Tibet, China ( Fig. 6 ). The terrain is mountainous with deep ravines and the climate is subtropical. According to data from the Mêdog meteorological observatory, the annual average temperature was 16 ℃ and the annual precipitation was 2358 mm during the period from 2007 to 2017 ( Li et al. 2018).

Etymology: — Cornus sunhangii is named in honor of Prof. Hang Sun, a Chinese botanist who has conducted research on plant taxonomy, floristics, biogeography and evolutionary biology and he has made outstanding contributions to our knowledge of the flora of Mêdog and of China. The Chinese name is “ ffiüfflaeẅ ” (mò tuō sì zhào huā).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Images of Cornus sunhangii. A. Habitat; B. Habit; C. Adaxial surface of leaf; D. Bracts; E. Abaxial surface of leaf; F. Infructescence; G. Bracts; H. Infructescences; I. Seeds.

FIGURE 2. Holotype of Cornus sunhangi. A. Flowering branch; B. Leaf; C. Bract; D. Infructescence. Drawn by Lin Wang.

FIGURE 6. Distribution of Cornus sunhangii. The red dot represents the discovery location of C. sunhangii.