Magnolia biondii Pamp. var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang, 2013

Wang, Y. L., Ejder, E., Yang, J. F., Kang, Y. X., Ye, W. & Zhang, S. Z., 2013, New varieties of Magnolia biondii and Magnolia cylindrica (Magnoliaceae) in China, Blumea 58 (1), pp. 33-38 : 33-37

Magnolia biondii Pamp. var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang , var. nov. — Fig.1 , 2 ; Map 1

A varietate typica differt surculis et foliis subtus dense albo-pilosis, corollis cupulatis, tepalis late obovatis fere omnibus extus a basi ad medium vel ad apicem purpurascentibus. — Typus: Y. L. Wang Y20080308 (holo SZG), China, Shaanxi province, Lueyang county, Mount Qinling , in deciduous forest along a stream at the bottom of a valley, alt. 1018 m, N33°31'40", E106°09'37", 8 Mar. 2008 .

Deciduous trees to 18 m tall. Bark pale grey, smooth; one or two years old twigs green, usually 3–4 mm diam, densely pale yellow to white appressed-pubescent. Petiole 1– 2 cm, stipular scar 1/5–1/3 as long as the petiole; leaf blades narrowly el- liptic, narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate, 10–18 by 3 – 5 cm, beneath light green, at first lanate-pubescent, above dark green; base cuneate, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Peduncle c. 1 cm; flower buds erect with pale greyish brown hair, spathe

1 Fairylake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen & Chinese Academy of Sciences,

Shenzhen 518004, China;

corresponding author e-mail: [e-mail]. 2 Qinling National Botanical Garden, Xi’an 710061, China. 3 Swedish Magnolia Group, Laholm, Sweden. 4 College of Forestry,Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University,Yangling

712100, China. 5 Xi’an Botanical Garden, Xi’an 710061, China.

2–7; flowers cup-shaped, precocious, light fragrance, 5–7 cm diam; tepals 9, outer 3 tepals sepaloid, purplish red or light red, linguoid, 1–1.5 cm long; tepals of middle and inner whorls abaxially purplish red or purplish red from base to middle, petal-like, obovate-oblong, 3.7–5 by 1.8–3 cm, erect; stamens 8–10 mm long, filaments purple 3–4 mm, anthers 4–5 mm; gynoecium 2 cm long. Fruiting peduncle 1 by 0.7 cm, with residual long sericeous hairs; fruit cylindrical, 10–14 cm long, mature fol- licles red, suborbicular, compressed laterally, tuberculate; red aril and black seeds with deep furrow. Chromosome number: 2n = 2x = 38.

Distribution & Habitat — Distributed in SE Gansu province (Huixian county), in S Shaanxi province (Foping, Langao, Lueyang, Ningshan, Pingli, Xunyang counties); in deciduous forests at 520–1320 m. Flowering: February to mid-March; fruiting: ripening August to September.

Accompanying vegetation — Acer mono Maxim. , Betula platyphylla Sukaczev , Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent., Castanea mollissima Blume , Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. , Corylus heterophylla Fisch. ex Trautv. , Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. , Diospyros lotus L., Euptelea pleiospermum Hook.f. & Thomson , Helwingia chinensis Batalin , H. japonica (Thunb.) F.Dietr. , Juglans cathayensis Dode , Larix gmelini (Rupr.) Rupr. , Lindera obutusiloba Blume , L. pungens Hemsl. , Lonicera tangutica Maxim. , Magnolia sprengeri Pamp. , Pinus armandii Franch. , P. tabuliformis Carrière , Populus adenopoda Maxim. , Quercus aliena Blume var. acuteserrata Maxim. ex Wenz. , Rhus chinensis Mill. , Sabina chinensis (L.) Antoine, Tsuga chinensis (Franch.) Pritz. , Vitis heyneana Roem. & Schult.

Conservation — In the past, this species has suffered se- verely from large-scale forestry operations but the situation has recently improved as a result of the introduction of stringent forestry regulations. During fieldwork, we encountered only very small groups composed of 1–3 but occasionally up to 10 individuals. They usually occurred along streams at the bottom of valleys. Seed production can sometimes be abundant. Young seedlings were very rarely found and then in very low numbers. The flower buds were used as medicinal Xinyi in these areas in the past.

© 2013 Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Additional specimens. CHINA, Shaanxi, Lueyang ,alt. 1018 m, N33°31'40", E106°09'37", 9Aug.2006, Y. L . Wang , Y20060809 (fruits) ( SZG) ; Shaanxi, Xunyang ,alt. 520 m, N33°08', E109°03', 16 Mar.2007, Y. L . Wang , Y20070316 (flowers) ( SZB) ; Shaanxi, Foping , alt. 1184–1316 m, N33°33' –33°35', E107°46' –107°50', 25 Apr. 2010, Y. L . Wang Y20100425­1 , Y20100425­4 , Y20100425­6 (fruits) ( SZG) ; Gansu, Huixian, Xiaolongshan National Natural Reserve ,alt. 1057m, N33°40', E106°19', 27Apr.2010; Y. L . Wang , Y20100427­1 , Y20100427­2 (fruits) (SZG).

Additional observations. CHINA, Shaanxi, Langao , alt. 1022–1092 m, N32°18' –32°19', E109°02'; Shaanxi, Pingli , alt. 739 m, N32°18', E109°28' ; Shaanxi, Ningshan , alt. 1092–1310 m, N33°18' –33°19', E108°26' –108°29'.

Notes — The new variety shows a distribution distinct from M. biondii var. biondii which occurs in Chongqing, W Henan, W Hubei and N Hunan ( Liu et al. 2004, Xia et al. 2008). The flowers of var. biondii are usually white with a pale or purplish red nerve or a pale red stain on the base of the tepals which reflex gradually as in Fig. 2d which shows a medium open flower. The reflexing continues and eventually the tepals hang down before falling off in contrast to var. purpurascens where the purple-pigmented tepals are held erect until they are shed. Previous studies recorded this variety as diploid ( Chen et al.1985, Li et al. 1998).

We have investigated many localities of M. biondii var. biondii , covering most its distribution area including the Xinyang, Nanzhao and Lushi counties in Henan province, Mount Shen- nongjia and Wufeng county in Hubei province, Cili county in Hunan province. All the trees observed in those localities show flower morphology consistent with that of var. biondii . The specimens from southern Shaanxi and Gansu, here described as the new var. purpurascens , are different, having flowers with erect and broadly obovate tepals of dark red colour abaxially. While M. biondii var. biondii often produce abundant but rather insignificant flowers, the new variety here described, M. biondii var. purpurascens , is an attractive garden tree for its shape and its purple or purple and white flowers.

Figures

Fig.1 Magnolia biondii Pamp. var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang. a. Flower bud; b. flower; c. bract; d. outer tepal; e. abaxial face of middle tepal; f. adaxial face of middle tepals; g. androecium and gynoecium; h. stamen; i. twig; j. leaf; k. fruit. — Drawn by Cui DH.

Fig. 2 Photos of the two species and their varieties. a–c, e. Magnolia biondii Pamp. var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang in E Ningshan county of Shaanxi province; d. M. biondii Pamp. var. biondii from Henan; f–i. M. cylindrica E.H.Wilson var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang in Jingning county of Zhejiang province; j. M. cylindrica E.H.Wilson var. cylindrica in Huangshan Mt of Anhui province.