Plant Diversity ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (05): 505-517.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2022.03.002

• Research paper • Previous Articles    

Taxonomic synopsis of Berberis (Berberidaceae) from the northern Hengduan mountains region in China, with descriptions of seven new species

Yao-Ke Lia,b,d, Julian Harberc, Chuan Penga,b,d, Zhi-Qiang Dua,b,d, Yao-Wu Xinga,d, Chih-Chieh Yua,d   

  1. a. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China;
    b. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;
    c. Research Associate, Missouri Botanic Garden, Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, UK;
    d. Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
  • Received:2021-09-29 Revised:2022-03-01 Online:2022-09-25 Published:2022-10-14
  • Supported by:
    Our grateful thanks to Mrs.Hong Xi Zhang and Hai Lei Zheng for their assistance in the field during 2019-2021.This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1802242),and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Taiwan Young Talent Programme (2018TW2SB0002).

Abstract: Though Berberis (Berberidaceae) is widely distributed across the Eurasian landmass it is most diverse in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountain (HHM) region. There are more than 200 species in China where it is one of the most common mountain shrubs. The study on the taxonomy and evolution of Berberis in this region can thus provide an important insight into the origin and diversification of its flora. A prerequisite to this is mapping and describing the various species of Berberis in the region – a task that despite recent progress is by no means complete. It is clear that in China there may be a significant number of species still to be described and that even with published species much about their distribution remains to be discovered. As a contribution to the first of these tasks seven new species from the northern Hengduan Mountain of N. Sichuan and S. Qinghai: Berberis chinduensis, Berberis degexianensis, Berberis jiajinshanensis, Berberis jinwu, Berberis litangensis, Berberis longquensis and Berberis riparia, are described here. Differences in overall morphology and especially in floral structures with each other and with similar species of Berberis in the same region are presented. The report is the result of phylogenetic analyses based on plastome and partial nrDNA sequences of both the seven proposed new species and a significant number of similar species already published. Provisional conclusions as to the insights provides on the history of the genetic divergence are discussed.

Key words: Berberidaceae, Flora of China, Herbarium taxonomy, Plastome sequences, nrDNA sequences