Ranunculus sinovaginatus Wang (1986: 34)

Yuan, Qiong & Yang, Qin-Er, 2017, The identity of Ranunculus laohegouensis (Ranunculaceae) from Sichuan, China, Phytotaxa 324 (2), pp. 198-200 : 198

Ranunculus sinovaginatus Wang (1986: 34) . R. vaginatus Handel-Mazzetti (1931: 303) , non Sommerauer (1833:

182). Figs. 1 & 2 .

Type:— CHINA. Sichuan: Ningyüen (= Xichang), Daliang Shan, ca. 2350 m a.s.l., 24 April 1914, H. Handel-Mazzetti 1643 (holotype WU!, isotype P!). Fig. 1D .

= Ranunculus laohegouensis Wang & Chen (2015: 801) , syn. nov.

Type:— CHINA. Sichuan: Pingwu, Laohegou Nature Reserve, roadside, 1300 − 1600 m a.s.l., 21 April 2014, D. Z. Fu et al. 1531 (holotype PE!). Fig. 1A .

Notes:— Ranunculus sinovaginatus is closely similar to R. sieboldii Miquel (1867: 5) , differing mainly in the smaller leaves, sparsely appressed-puberulous stems and relatively fewer (ca. 10) carpels. The specimens of R. sinovaginatus from Shaanxi, particularly those densely hairy, are easily confused with R. sieboldii . Liou (1980), Wang (1995) and Wang & Gilbert (2001) all reported the occurrence of R. sinovaginatus in northwestern Yunnan, but this needs to be verified. Wang (1986, 1995) cited some specimens from northwestern Yunnan under R. repens Linnaeus (1753: 554) , a very widespread Eurasian species yet in China otherwise recorded to occur only in the northeastern and northwestern regions. Yang (2001) reported the chromosome number of R. sinovaginatus as 2 n = 32 based on material from northwestern Yunnan. Upon a re-examination of the voucher specimens we found that, if following the treatment by Wang (1986, 1995), all the material should be referred to R. repens . Liao et al. (1995) reported the chromosome number of R. sinovaginatus , under the name R. vaginatus , as 2 n = 40 based on material from Liupanshui in southwestern Guizhou. According to Xu et al. (2013), R. sinovaginatus (5 x) may have originated via the hybridization between R. diffusus Candolle (1824: 38) (4 x) and R. sieboldii (6 x). Further studies of R. sinovaginatus , particularly of the populations from Sichuan, using cytological as well as molecular and morphological data, are needed to gain a better understanding of the origin (s) of this interesting species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Specimens of Ranunculus sinovaginatus. A. CHINA. Sichuan: Pingwu, Laohegou Nature Reserve, D.Z. Fu et al. 1531 (PE; holotype of R. laohegouensis). B. Same locality, H.M. Yang et al. 1587 (PE). B. CHINA. Gansu: Wenxian, Baishuijiang Nature Reserve, D.E. Boufford 37753 (PE). D. CHINA. Sichuan: Ningyüen (= Xichang), Daliang Shan, H. Handel-Mazzetti 1643 (holotype WU).

FIGURE 2. Paratype sheets of Ranunculus sinovaginatus. A. CHINA.Sichuan: Ningyüen (= Xichang), Daliang Shan, H.Handel-Mazzetti 1468 (WU). B. CHINA. Sichuan: Yanyuan, H. Handel-Mazzetti 3054 (WU).