Impatiens fujianensis Liang Ma, Xin Y. Chen & S. P. Chen PP 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ma, Liang
name: Chen, Xin-Yan
name: Zhou, Cheng-Yuan
name: Chen, Shi-Pin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Ericales
Balsaminaceae
Impatiens
Impatiens fujianensis

description: Impatiens fujianensis Liang Ma, Xin Y.Chen & S.P.Chen, sp. nov. (º建凤仙″; Figs. 2, 3)
Type:— China, Fujian (º建), Wuyishan (Ϊ夷山), under evergreen broad-leaved forests, 27.74317°N, 117.62894° E, alt. 1215 m, 1 October 2023, L. Ma 20231004 (holotype: FJFC, isotype: PE).
This new species is similar to I. noli-tangere and I. yilingiana, from which it differs by its leaf margin repand-dentate, inflorescences 1-2-flowered, pedicels 6.0–7.0 mm long, bracts 1.0– 1.5 mm long, flowers slight yellowish-green, lateral sepals 4.5–5.0 mm long, upper petal 5.0 mm in diam, lateral united petals 0.8–1.0 cm long and with a solid color, and lower sepal funnel-shaped.
Plants annual, 35.0–80.0 cm tall. Stem succulent, robust, many branched in upper part, glabrous, lower nodes often swollen with fibrous roots. Leaves alternate, ovate or ovate-elliptic, 1.5–6.0 × 1.2–3.0 cm, apex obtuse, acute or retuse, base blunt or shallow heart-shaped, rarefied skewness, both surfaces glabrous, greyish-green, lateral veins 6–9-paired, margin repand-dentate, teeth mucronulate; upper leaves shortly petiolate; petiole 0.5–3.0 cm long, slender. Inflorescences 1–2-flowered; peduncles 1.0– 1.5 cm long, racemose. Pedicels 6.0–7.0 mm long, bracteate above middle; bracts persistent, lanceolate, 1.0– 1.5 mm long, herbaceous. Flowers slight yellowish-green; lateral sepals 2, ovate or broadly ovate, 4.5–5.0 mm long, apex acute; upper petal orbicular or suborbicular, ca. 5.0 mm in diam., apex emarginate, rostellate, abaxial midvein green cristate; lateral united petals not clawed, 8.0–10.0 mm long, 2–lobed; basal lobes rhombus, slightly smaller, one apiculate at apex; distal lobes dolabriform, inner edge with one apiculate at apex; lower sepal funnel-shaped, gradually narrowed into an incurved spur 0.8–1.2 cm long, 2-lobed. Filaments linear, slightly swollen above; anthers ovoid, apex acute. Ovary erect, fusiform. Capsule linear-cylindric, 1.0– 1.8 cm long. Seeds many, brown, oblong-globose, 2.0–3.0 mm long, smooth.
Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting from September to October.
Etymology: The species epithet refers to Fujian Province, where this new species was first found.
Distribution and habitat: Impatiens fujianensis is so far only found within Wuyishan National Park. It grows in shaded moist places, along creek sides under evergreen broad-leaved forests at elevations of 1100–1300 m.
Conservation status: The population size of Impatiens fujianensis is large and it is distributed in more than three places in Wuyishan National Park. The overall population size of 1 km 2 is estimated to be>500 mature individuals. Because it is in the national park, where it is well protected and free from human disturbance, its endangered status should be evaluated as LC (least concern), according to the IUCN (2022).
description: Published as part of Ma, Liang, Chen, Xin-Yan, Zhou, Cheng-Yuan & Chen, Shi-Pin, 2024, Impatiens fujianensis (Balsaminaceae), a new species from China: evidence from morphological and molecular analyses, pp. 201-208 in Phytotaxa 666 (3) on pages 204-207, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.666.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14520312