Aspidistra qijiangensis S.Z.He & X.Y.Luo, 2018

Luo, Xin-Yan, Xu, Wen-Fen & He, Shun-Zhi, 2018, Aspidistra qijiangensis (Asparagaceae), a new species from Chongqing, China, Phytotaxa 360 (1), pp. 74-76 : 74

Aspidistra qijiangensis S.Z.He & X.Y.Luo sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Type: — CHINA. Chongqing municipality, Qijiang district, Dongxi town , under the shrub on the hillsides, elevation ca. 500 m, 4 April 2017, X.Y. Luo 170414 (holotype, GZTM!) .

Herbs perennial, 90–120 cm high, rhizome creeping, subterete, 7–10 mm thick, covered with scales, internodes congested. Roots elongate. Leaf sheaths 1 − 2, purple-black, 10–18 cm long, enclosing the base of leaves, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, 3 − 5 cm apart, leaf blade narrow oblanceolate, 70–95 × 2.5–4 cm, apex gradually acuminate, base gradually narrowed into petiole; petiole 20–25 cm long. Penduncle 1–4.5 cm long, white, erect, bracts 2–3, triangular ovate, white with purple spots, 4–7 × 5–8 mm. Flower solitary, erect. Perigone campanulate, purple-red, 1.0 − 1.5 cm tall, 8-lobed, perigone tube 5–10 mm in length, 10–12 mm in diameter, lobes purple-red, triangular lanceolate, 4.5–5 mm long and ca. 3 mm wide at base, with 4 keels at lower third. Stamens 8, inserted at lower 1/3 part of tube, filament short, anthers oblong, ca. 2–3 mm in length. Pistil nearly umbrella, ca. 5–7 mm in length, ovary slightly swelled, ca. 3 mm in diameter, stigma peltate swelled, central slightly convex, 5–8 mm in diameter, with 8 pairs of ridges from the edge to the central convergence on the upper surface and in each pair of ridges, there is a white groove, 4-lobed at margin, lobes slightly lobed, apex obtuse, bent, abaxial surface white, with 8 deep groove nest. Ovary 4-loculed, each room with 1 ovule. Fruit berry irregular spherical, 2–3 cm high and 1.5–2 cm in diameter, with small spines on the surface. Flowering phase: March to April.

Distribution and Habitat:—The new species grows under shrubs on hillsides, elevation ca. 500 m, distributed in Dongxi town, Qijiang district, Chongqing municipality, China.

Taxonomic relationships:—The new species is similar to Aspidistra oblanceifolia Wang & Lang (1982: 487) , Aspidistra nanchuanensis Tillich (2006: 139) and Aspidistra sichuanensis Lang & Zhu (1984: 387) , the major differences among these species are illustrated in Table 1 , and lie in the length of leaf blade, the diameter of perigone, perigone lobe features, stigma characters and ovules.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aspidistra qijiangensis (A–C) habitat; (D) plant habit; (E–F) flowers in natural position; (G) longitudinal profile of a flower (showing stamens); (H) longitudinal profile of a flower (showing pistil); (I) stigma apical view; (J) stigma dorsal view; (K) flowers; (L) berry lateral view; (M) berry apical view.