Plant Diversity ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (02): 222-230.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2021.11.008

• Short communication • Previous Articles    

Oreocharis xieyongii, an unusual new species of Gesneriaceae from western Hunan, China

Zhen-Yu Lva,e, Ziyoviddin Yusupova,b,c, Dai-Gui Zhangd, Ya-Zhou Zhanga,b, Xiao-Shuang Zhanga,d, Nan Lina,b, Komiljon Tojibaeva,c, Hang Suna, Tao Denga   

  1. a CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, Yunnan, China;
    b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    c Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 100053, Uzbekistan;
    d Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Jishou University, Jishou 416000, Hunan, China;
    e School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
  • Received:2020-06-03 Revised:2021-11-28 Online:2022-04-25 Published:2022-04-24
  • Contact: Hang Sun,E-mail:sunhang@mail.kib.ac.cn;Tao Deng,E-mail:dengtao@mail.kib.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    We are grateful to Michael M?ller and Sergey Volis for their comments and linguistic help. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan joint fund to support key projects (U1802232), the Major Program of NSFC (31590823), NSFC (32170215), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (2019382), the Young Academic and Technical Leader Raising Foundation of Yunnan Province (2019HB039), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (2019QZKK0502) and the CAS “Light of West China” Program.

Abstract: A new species, Oreocharis xieyongii T. Deng, D.G. Zhang & H. Sun, from Hunan Province, central China, is described. The combination of purple zygomorphic corolla with longer adaxial lobes and exserted stamens defines the species and discriminates it from all other current Oreocharis species. Morphological traits of the new species were compared to those of two similar species, Oreocharis xiangguiensis and O. rubrostriata. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the new species is nested within the Oreocharis. Although only half of Oreocharis species were included in our study, evolutionary character analysis indicates that the ancestral states of the genus are likely the purple corolla, longer abaxial lip and inserted stamens. The longer adaxial lip is perhaps an apomorphy and only present in O. xieyongii and O. rubrostriata. Both morphological and molecular evidence suggest that O. xieyongii is a taxon new to science.

Key words: China, Gesneriaceae, Morphology, Phylogeny, Taxonomy