Aspidistra shiwandashanensis C. R. Lin & W. B. Xu 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lin, Chun-Rui
name: Xu, Wei-Bin
name: Huang, Yu-Song
name: Wang, Bing-Mou
name: Liu, Yan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Asparagaceae
Aspidistra
Aspidistra shiwandashanensis

description: Aspidistra shiwandashanensis C.R. Lin & W.B. Xu, sp. nov. (Fig. 1, 2)
TYPE:— CHINA. Guangxi: Fangchenggang City, Fangcheng District, Fu-long Town, Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve, on rocks and along grassy streamside in forests, 21°50’ N, 107°56’ E, 400–450 m, not common, 18 November 2011, Chun-Rui Lin & Wei-Bin Xu 1030 (holotype: IBK!, isotype: IBK!, GXMG!).
Diagnosis:— Aspidistra shiwandashanensis is similar to A. arnautovii Tillich (2005: 314) subsp. catbaensis Tillich (2005: 316) with leaves and flowers, but differs by perianth lobes ovate-lanceolate to narrow oblong, internally purplish red to blackish purple, stigma upper surface glabrous, not radial grooves.
Herbs perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, subterete, 4–6 mm thick, covered with scales, nodes dense. Vagina leaves 4–5, purple-red, 1–8 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, becoming black-brown when dry, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, ca. 5–10 mm apart; petiole stiff upright, 10–24 cm long, 2–3 mm thick, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade usually narrow elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 20–30 cm long, 5–8 cm wide, green, sometimes with small yellow-white spots on both surfaces, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, inequilateral, apex acuminate, margin entire. Peduncle arising from the nodes of apical part of rhizome, erect or declining, 1–3 cm long, with 4–5 bracts, bracts gradually wider from base to top of peduncle, the two most basal bracts ones of perianth broadly ovate-cucullate, pale green with purplish red spots, 5–6 mm long, 8–10 mm wide, apex subobtuse. Flowers solitary; perianth campanulate, fleshy, externally pale green-white with purplish red or dark purplish red spots, internally purplish red to blackish purple, deeply 8-lobed apically; lobes explanate, bent outwards, subequal, ovate-lanceolate to narrow oblong, 5–7 mm long, 2–4 mm wide at base, apex obtuse, each lobe basally with 2 longitudinal keels, each keel basally fusing with a keel of the adjoining lobe and forming a protruding lip at the fusion point; tube 6–8 mm high, distal opening 9–12 mm in diameter; Stamens 8, opposite to lobes, inserted in the middle of perianth tube, positioned lower than stigma, filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, anthers oblong, 2–3 mm long and 1–1.5 mm wide, pollen yellow; Pistil obconic, fleshy, purplish red, 6–8.5 mm long, ovary inconspicuous, style quadrangle, ca. 4 mm long and 2 mm in diameter at base, gradually widened to stigma level, stigma enlarge, glabrous, 6–10 mm in diameter, upper surface slightly convex, densely purplish red mottled, and with 4 radial, white, bifurcate lines from center to margin, 4-lobed at margin, lobes emarginate at apex, lower surface with longitudinal 8-ridged. Flowering from October to December.
Etymology: — The specific epithet refers to the type locality. The Chinese name is “ +ξψƦṚDZDz ”(pinyin: shí wàn shân zhî zhű bào dàn).
Distribution and ecology: — Aspidistra shiwandashanensis is currently only known from the type locality in Shiwandashan Natural Nature Reserve, Fangchenggang City and Dongxing county, in southern Guangxi, China. It grows on rocks along streams in secondary broadleaf forests at elevations about 400– 550 m.
Similar species:— Aspidistra shiwandashanensis is similar to A. arnautovii subsp. catbaensis with leaves and flowers, but differs by perianth lobes ovate-lanceolate to narrow oblong (vs. triangular), internally purplish red to blackish purple (vs. blackish violet with yellow tips), stigma upper surface glabrous (vs. with fine radial grooves). The new species also close to A. arnautovii Tillich var. angustifolia L. Wu & Y.F. Huang in Wu et al. (2012: 321), but can be easily distinguished by leaf blade narrow elliptic to oblong-lanceolate (vs. narrow lanceolate to nearly linear), 20–30 × 5–8 cm (vs. 20–53 × 1.2–2 cm), perianth lobes internally purplish red to blackish purple (vs. blackish violet with yellow tips), stigma upper surface glabrous (vs. with fine radial grooves), lower surface with 8-ridged (vs. 24- ridged). Moreover, A. shiwandashanensis resembles A. punctatoides Yan Liu & C. R. Lin in Lin & Liu (2011: 189) and A. punctata Lindley (1826: 977), However, the new species can be distinguished from them by its perianth lobes purplish red to blackish purple, glabrous, stigma upper surface purplish red (see Table 1).
Additional specimens examined (paratype):— CHINA. Guangxi, Guilin City, Botany Garden of Guilin, taken to cultivation from the type locality, 05 January 2018, Chun-Rui Lin 1080 (cultivated plant collected from Fangchenggang City, Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve, 16 January 2016, Shui-Song Mo); 25 November 2020, Chun-Rui Lin 1366 (cultivated plant collected from Fangchenggang City, Fu-long Town, Pinglongshan Valley, 1 June 2016, Yu-Song Huang); 12 February 2022, Chun-Rui Lin 1445 (cultivated plant collected from Dongxing City, Ma-lu Town, Pingfeng village, 12 October 2018, by Chun-Rui Lin and Zhao-Cen Lu).
Pollen morphology:— The pollen grains are subspherical, inaperturate, pollen size is (28.94–) 33.68 (–37.65) × (28.24–) 30.01 (–32.94) μm (Fig. 9A). Pollen with gemmate exine, the prominent spores are nearly round, relatively large, similar in size and smooth in surface (Fig. 9B).
description: Published as part of Lin, Chun-Rui, Xu, Wei-Bin, Huang, Yu-Song, Wang, Bing-Mou & Liu, Yan, 2023, Four new species of Aspidistra (Asparagaceae) from southern China, pp. 121-135 in Phytotaxa 587 (2) on pages 122-124, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.587.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7734482