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| Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin, in Qin, Li, Pang & Wen, 2023. |
Abstract
Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin, a new species of Gesneriaceae from the monsoon rain forest in Mangbang township, Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated here. It morphologically resembles A. chiritoides C.B.Clarke in size, shape and hairs on the leaf blades. But it can easily be distinguished from the latter by the green corolla limb with brownish-red to maroon lower lobes. At the same time, the hairs of the pedicel and calyx lobes, the length of the staminode and the size of the seed grain can also help distinguish both. It is provisionally assessed as Data Deficient (DD), according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, because field surveys for this new taxon have not been completed.
Keywords: Aeschynanthus chiritoides, Didymocarpoideae, Flora of Yunnan, taxonomy
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| Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin A habit B flower C flower dissection D fruit E seed F seed grain. A–F from Isotype. Scale bars: 1 cm (A–E); 1 mm (F). Illustrated by Rui-Feng Li. |
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| Plants Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin A habit B a branch with a single flower C the adaxial surface of leaf blades and stem D the abaxial surface of leaf blades and stem E the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaf blades. Photographs by De-Chang Meng. |
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| Propagative organs of Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin A a branch with terminal flower B lateral view of flower C top view of flower D upward view of flower E frontal view of corolla F pistil with calyx lobes G pistil without calyx lobes. Photographs by De-Chang Meng. |
Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: The new species resembles Aeschynanthus chiritoides C.B.Clarke (Fig. 5) in leaf blades size, shape and indumentum, but can be easily distinguished from the latter by its pedicel densely erect glandular-pubescent (vs. densely villous), calyx lobes adaxially nearly glabrous and abaxially erectly glandular puberulent (vs. adaxially and abaxially glandular- or eglandular-villous or a mixture of both), corolla pale yellowish green to greenish (vs. white or slightly yellowish or greenish with a few thin purple lines), corolla limb upper lobes green and lower lobes brownish red to maroon (vs. all lobes white or slightly pale green with pale purplish lines), seed grain ca. 1.0× 0.5 mm (vs. 1.2–3 × ca. 0.3 mm). Detailed morphological comparisons with A. chiritoides are provided in Table 1.
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Etymology: Compared with most other species of Aeschynanthus, the beautiful green leaves and flowers of this dwarf plant resemble an emerald. The specific epithet ‘smaragdinus’ is derived from the Latin vocabulary and means a unique dazzling green.
Vernacular name: 翡翠芒毛苣苔 (Chinese name);
Féi Cuì Máng Máo Jù Tái (Chinese pronunciation).
Jia-Qi Qin, Rui-Feng Li, Yan-Ping Pang and Fang Wen. 2023. Aeschynanthus smaragdinus F.Wen & J.Q.Qin (Gesneriaceae), A New Species from Yunnan Province, China. PhytoKeys. 220: 65-73. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.220.98040
