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| Sedum guniuensis Kun Liu, H. J. Ma & J.W. Shao, in Wang, Ma, Fang, Ding, Ni, Zhang, Zou, Shao, Li, Liu et Ai, 2026. |
ABSTRACT
A new species of Sedum (Crassulaceae), Sedum guniuensis from the Guniujiang Mountains in southern Anhui, China, is described and illustrated. This new species is similar to S. emarginatum, but can be clearly distinguished by its creeping growth habit and smaller cordate leaves. Additionally, complete chloroplast genomes from six populations of S. guniuensis provide strong molecular evidence for its taxonomic separation from S. emarginatum.
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| Sedum guniuensis Kun Liu, H. J. Ma & J.W. Shao, sp. nov. (A) habitat, (B) habit winter, (C) habit spring, (D) flowers, (E) plants. All are photographed by Kun Liu or Haijun Ma. |
Sedum guniuensis Kun Liu, H. J. Ma & J.W. Shao, sp. nov. (Figures 4, 5).
Diagnosis: Sedum guniuensis (Figures 4 and 5) is morphologically similar to S. emarginatum, but differs in prostrate stems, cordate smaller leaves (0.5–1.2 × 0.4–1.0 cm vs. 1–2.5 × 0.5–1.2 cm), linear-obovate sepals (2–5 × 0.7–2 mm), and diminutive petals (6–8 × 1.5–2 mm) (Table 2). In sympatry (Figure 4A,B), S. guniuensis has creeping stems and smaller leaves than S. emarginatum.
Etymology: The epithet “guniuensis” is derived from the type locality, Guniujiang mountains, Shitai County, Anhui Province, China.
The Chinese name given is “Gǔ Niú Jǐng Tiān” (牯牛景天).
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| Sedum guniuensis (B, D, E, G, I, K) and S. emarginatum (A, C, F, H, J, L), (A, B) comparison of both species co-occurring in sympatric communities in the wild, (C, D) plants, (E, F) cauline leaves, (G, H) leaf, (I, J) flowers, (K, L) fruits. All are photographed by Kun Liu or Haijun Ma. |
Wan-Zeng Wang, Hai-Jun Ma, Hong-Ming Fang, Bai-Lin Ding, Wei-Yong Ni, Si-Yu Zhang, Shi-Hui Zou, Jian-Wen Shao, Nai-Wei Li, Kun Liu and Li-Jiao Ai. 2026. Sedum guniuensis, A New Species of Sedum (Crassulaceae) from Anhui, China. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/ece3.74120 [29 July 2026]