Camellia psilocarpa X. G. Shi & C. X. Ye 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Shi, Xianggang
name: Li, Weixi
name: Wu, Haidan
name: Guo, Wuxia
name: Ye, Chuangxing
name: Liao, Wenbo
name: Huang, Yelin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Ericales
Theaceae
Camellia
Camellia psilocarpa

description: Camellia psilocarpa X.G. Shi & C.X. Ye, sp. nov. (Fig. 2)
Type: — CHINA. Guangdong Province: Longmeng County, Huazhu Town, Nankunshan Nature Reserve, elev. 500 m, 23°37 ′ 17.19 ′′ N, 113°55 ′ 24.40 ′′ E, 17 March 2017, X. G. Shi 170301 (holotype: SYS! isotype: IBSC!).
Diagnosis:— Species affinis Camellia magnocarpae (Hu & Huang) Chang, sed foliis ovato-oblongis, apice caudatis vel longi-acuminatis, bracteis et sepalis 10–12, extus velutinis, capsulis minoribus 3–5 cm in diametric, valvis tenuioribus differt.
Description: —Small trees, 3–5 m tall. Young branches brown; current year branchlets purplish brown, glabrous. Leaf blade leathery, ovate-oblong to ovate, 6–10 cm long, 2–4 cm wide, apex caudate or long acuminate, base cuneate to obtuse, margin entire on basal 1/2–2/3 and serrate on apical 1/3–1/2, adaxially dark green, abaxially yellowish green, both surfaces glabrous, midvein elevated, secondary veins 5–7 pairs, raised above and below. Petiole 1–1.5 cm, glabrous. Flowers subsessile, axillary or subterminal, solitary or paired, 4–5 cm in diam., red. Bracteoles and sepals undifferentiated, 10–12; persistent, outer 3–4 lunate to semiorbicular, 3–6 mm; inner 7–8 orbicular to broadly obovate, 1–1.5 cm, thickly leathery, both surfaces grayish white velutinous. Petals 5–6, obovate, 4–6 cm long, 2.5–3.5 cm wide, apex emarginate; basally connate for 1 cm. Stamens 2.5–3 cm long, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for 1.5–2 cm. Ovary ovoid, 3–4 mm in diam., glabrous, 3-loculed; style 2.5–3 cm, glabrous, apically 3-parted. Capsule ovoid or globose, 3–5 cm in diam., 3-loculed with 1–3 seeds per locule; pericarp 0.5–1 cm thick, woody. Seeds brown, 2–2.2 cm long, 1.5–1.8 cm wide, pilose.
Phenology: —Flowering January to March. Fruiting August to October.
Etymology: —The specific epithet psilocarpa means the fruit is glabrous. We would like to give it a Chinese name, Liangguo Hongshancha (ṘfflḦƜffi).
Distribution and Habitat: —So far, Camellia psilocarpa is known only from its type locality, Nankunshan Nature Reserve in Guangdong, China (Fig. 3). According to our field survey, two populations are found at its type locality. It occurs in subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests or forests edges from 500 to 750 m, along with other species of Theaceae such as Eurya auriformis Chang (1954: 45), E. rubiginosa Chang (1954: 21) and E. loquaiana Dunn (1908: 355).
Paratypes: — CHINA. Guangdong Province: Longmeng County, Nankunshan Nature Reserve, elev. 500 m, 25 September 2016, X. G. Shi 160901 (SYS!); same locality, 17 March 2017, X. G. Shi 170303 (SYS!); same locality, elev. 750 m, 17 March 2017, X. G. Shi 170306 (SYS!).
description: Published as part of Shi, Xianggang, Li, Weixi, Wu, Haidan, Guo, Wuxia, Ye, Chuangxing, Liao, Wenbo & Huang, Yelin, 2018, Camellia psilocarpa (Theaceae), a new species from Guangdong, China, based on morphological and molecular data, pp. 209-215 in Phytotaxa 338 (2) on pages 211-212, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.338.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/13719977