Magnolia cylindrica E.H.Wilson 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 : 37-38

Magnolia cylindrica E.H.Wilson var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang , var. nov. — Fig. 2 , 3 ; Map 1

A varietate typica differt corollis cupulatis,tepalis late obovatis fere omnibus extus a basi ad medium vel ad apicem purpurascentibus. — Typus: Y. L. Wang Y2010­15 (holo SZG), China, Zhejiang province, Jingning county ,deciduous forest, alt. 1215 m, N27°44', E119°38', 27 Feb. 2010 .

Deciduous trees to 8–12 m tall. Bark pale grey, smooth; twigs yellowish brown. Petiole 1.2–1.8 cm, stipular scars 1/5–1/3 as long as petiole; leaf blades narrowly obovate or obovate-oblong, 14–17 by 7–8 cm, papery, green above, light green beneath with densely short hairs, base broadly cuneate, apex obtuse or acute. Peduncle 0.9–1.1 cm, densely pale yellow sericeous; flower buds ovoid, with pale greyish yellow to silvery grey long hairs; flowers cup-shaped, precocious; tepals 9, outer 3 tepals sepaloid, triangular or linguoid, 0.8–3 by 0.5–0.9 cm; tepals of middle and inner whorls purplish red abaxially but sometimes more or less white at the apex, petal-like, obovate-oblong, 3.7–4.2 by 1.8–2.2 cm, erect; stamens 0.8–1.0 cm, filament base purplish red, connective exerted and forming a tip or mucro; gynoecium purplish yellow, cylindrical-ovoid, 1.2–1.5 cm long, 50–65 carpels. Chromosome number 2n = 4x = 76 according to count in leaf bud samples.

Distribution & Habitat — Endemic to Jingning and Songyang County, South of Zhejiang Province, China, in the semievergreen broad-leaved forests at 1100–1220 m. The area of occurrence belongs to the oceanic monsoon climate of the subtropical climatic zone. The Jingning population comprised 10 trees of which 7 were sampled for flowers and dry leaves. More than 20 trees were observed in Songyang county and 4 were sampled for flowers and dry leaves. No fruits were found in either area. The flower shape and other morphologi- cal characters are very homogeneous in and between the two populations. The abaxial tepal colour shows some variation in the extension of the white margin at the apex. No young seedlings were found around those trees. The populations are distributed within conservation areas of a local forest bureau and plants are protected very well in both areas. Some individuals of M. cylindrica var. purpurascens grow on the slope of a valley, whereas others were found along brooklets. Flowering: from the end of February to middle March; Fruiting: unseen.

Accompanying vegetation — Alnus trabeculosa Hand.-Mazz. , Bretschneidera sinensis Hemsl. , Camellia chekiangoleosa Hu , Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (Franceschi) Makino , Emmenopterys henryi Oliv. , Halesia macgregorii Chun , Pinus taiwanensis Hayata , Taxus wallichiana var. mairei (Lemée & H.Lév.) L.K.Fu & Nan Li. There is also a larger population of Magnolia sinostellata P.L.Chiu & Z.H.Chen growing together with this variety in the Songyang population, but no M. sinostellata individual was observed in the Jingning population.

Additional specimens. CHINA, Zhejiang province, Jingning ,alt. 900–1100 m, N27°44', E119°38', 27 Feb. 2010, Y. L . Wang , Y2010­16 , Y2010­17 , Y2010­ 18 ; Zhejiang province, Songyang , alt. 880–1000 m, N28°16', E119°32', 26 Mar. 2012, Y. L . Wang , Y20120326­01 , Y20120326­02 , Y20120326­04 , Y20120326­08 .

Notes — The new variety is distinct in its separate distribution compared with M. cylindrica var. cylindrica , which is found in the montane sparse forest at an altitude of 600–1700 in S Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and N Fujian ( Liu et al. 2004, Xia et al. 2008). The majority of known localities of var. cylindrica were investigated in the past years including Mount Huangshan in Anhui province, Mount Wuyi and Mount Efeng in Fujian province, Mount Lushan and Jinggang in Jiangxi province. The flowers of the typical variety are usually white with a purplish red nerve abaxially on the base. The tepals reflex as the flower develops as in Fig. 2j which shows an open flower. The tepals will keep reflexing further until they hang down and eventually fall off. These floral characters, which were common to all individuals observed in those localities of M. cylindrica var. cylindrica , differ from the erect purple-pigmented flowers of M. cylindrica var. purpurascens of S Zhejiang.The var. purpurascens is tetraploid (like var. cylindrica ) in our chromosome counts.

This variety is an attractive garden tree based on its nice treeshape and purplish red flower. The flower buds or tree bark are not used as medicinal Xinyi or Houpu in these areas.

Figures

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.

Fig. 3 Magnolia cylindrica E.H.Wilson var. purpurascens Y.L.Wang & S.Z.Zhang. a. Flower bud; b. flower; c. bract; d, e. outer tepals; f. abaxial face of middle tepal; g. adaxial face of middle tepals; h, i. abaxial face of inner tepals; j. androecium and gynoecium; k. twig; l. leaf. — Drawn by Cui DH.