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| Scutellaria cavicola C.Xiong, Z.Y.Wei & L.F.Fu, in Xiong, Wei, Liu, Chen, X.-Y. Fu, Wang et L.-F. Fu, 2025. |
Abstract
Scutellaria cavicola C.Xiong, Z.Y.Wei & L.F.Fu, a new cave-dwelling species discovered in Lingyun County, Guangxi, China, was described and illustrated. The new species morphologically resembles S. tsinyunensis in having ligneous stems, stiffly papery leaves, undulate leaf margins. However, it can be clearly distinguished from S. tsinyunensis in the height of plants, the shape of leaf blades, the length of petiole and racemes, the size of leaves and nutlets. The results of molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on nuclear ribosome internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and external transcribed spacers (ETS) of 43 Scutellaria species, showed that S. cavicola is closely related to S. tsinyunensis. Notably, according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, the new species is assigned to the Critically Endangered (CR) category.
Key words: Flora of Guangxi, Karst cave, Lingyun County, phylogeny, Scutellaria tsinyunensis, taxonomy
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| Scutellaria cavicola C.Xiong, Z.Y.Wei & L.F.Fu, sp. nov. A, B. Habitat; C. Flowering plant; D. Young inflorescence; E. Mature inflorescence; F. Flower (side view); G. Flower (front view); H. Dissection of a flower; I. Fruiting calyces; J. Nutlets. |
Scutellaria cavicola C.Xiong, Z.Y.Wei & L.F.Fu, sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Scutellaria cavicola belongs to Scutellaria Ser. Javanicae C. Y. Wu (Wu and Li 1977) and exhibits morphological similarities to S. tsinyunensis C.Y. Wu & S. Chow (Wu and Li 1977) (Fig. 4). Both species are characterised by certain shared traits, including ligneous stems, leathery or stiffly papery leaves, undulate leaf margins. However, S. cavicola differs from S. tsinyunensis by its shorter stems (15–30 cm tall vs. 30–60 cm), lamina ovate to triangular-ovate, 14.5–23 × 8.5–14.5 mm (vs. ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 40–80 × 15–35 mm), petiole 3–7.5 mm long (vs. sessile or short, 0–4 mm), racemes 1–5 cm long and 3–10 flowers (vs. 8–10 cm, up to 30 flowers). A more detailed comparison of the two species is provided in Table 2.
Chi Xiong, Zi-Yu Wei, Rui-Ning Liu, Feng Chen, Xiao-Ying Fu, Yi-Chen Wang and Long-Fei Fu. 2025. Scutellaria cavicola (Lamiaceae), A New Cave-dwelling Species from Northwest Guangxi, China. PhytoKeys 262: 293-304. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.262.158923
