Microsoft Word - 07. China.doc Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 18(2): 159-162, 2011 (December) © 2011 Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists DUCHESNEA BRUNNEUS, A NEW SPECIES OF ROSACEAE FROM HUBEI, CHINA C. LEI, C.C. ZHANG, Y. WANG1 AND J.Z. DONG* Key Laboratory of Biologic Resources Protection and Utilization of Hubei Province, School of Biological Science and Technology, Hubei University for Nationalities, Enshi 445000, China Key words: Duchesnea brunneus; Rosaceae; New species; China. Abstract Duchesnea brunneus J. Z. Dong (Solanaceae) is described and illustrated here as a new species from Hubei, China. The newly described species is compared with its closely related species. Introduction Duchesnea belonging to the family Rosaceae is distributed throughout the world (Weber, 2003). In China Duchesnea is represented by 2 species and 1 variety, namely, D. indica, D. chrysantha, and D. indica var. microphylla (Li et al., 2003). Most of them occur at the foot of shadowy hillside, slopes, ravines, river banks, meadows, field margins, and wet places. In 2010 and 2011, during our investigation on Duchesnea species, we found a new plant specimen with yellow petals, globose or coniform receptacle and aggregate fruits and primarily identified it to be in Duchesnea. Then we conducted an extensive field investigation in Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing of China. A new species was found and it was described as Duchesnea brunneus J.Z. Dong based on its main features as follows: leaf blade 3-5-foliolate, mostly 5-foliolate; inflorescence terminal, cyme, petals yellow, rachis 2-3 branched; epicalyx long lanceolate, integer- edged; receptacle globose or coniform, ripening green to light green; aggregate fruits, ripening green to brown; achenes ripened brown and rugose; reniform, green and glabrous when fresh. Duchesnea brunneus J. Z. Dong, sp. nov. Type: China. Hubei: cultivated at Wuhan Botanical Garden, CAS [collected in Wangchengpo mountain, Enshi, Hubei, China], 15 March 2011, Z. J. Dong (holotype, HIB; isotype, HIB). (Fig. 1) Diagnosis: Herba perennis. Folium 3-5-foliatum; Cymula terminalis; epicalyx integer; torus globosus, chlorus. Coenocarpium brunneus. Marura achenium brunneus, rugosus, imaturata achenium reniformis, chlorus. *Corresponding author: Email: djz21cn@yahoo.com.cn 1Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Wuhan 430074, China. 160 LEI et al. Perennial herbs. Rhizome short, small, white, 2-3 mm in diameter, 1.5-2.0 cm long. Stolons 4- 6(-12), 10-30 (60) cm long, 1.1-3.0 mm in diameter, 5-6 nodes, procumbent, the upper surface of the stolon red, the lower surface of the stolon green; nodes bearing adventitious roots, each node bearing mostly 3 leaves and a bud, a bud bearing mostly 3 leaves. Leaves 3-5-foliolate (mostly 5- foliolate), leaflets long oval, margin obtusely serrate, both surfaces green; petiole 2.0-2.5 cm long; stipules 2, broadly lanceolate, pink or green, adnate to base of petiole. Inflorescence terminal cyme, rachis 2-3 branched. Flowers small, 0.5-1.2 cm in diameter; pedicels 1.0-1.5 cm long; sepals 5, green, bigger than epicalyx, broadly lanceolate, integer-edged, enlarged in fruits, 1.4-1.6 × 2.4-2.8 mm in flowers, 1.5-2.2×3.4-3.6 mm in fruits; epicalyx lanceolate, green, integer-edged, enlarged in fruits, 0.5-0.8×1.7-2.2 mm in flowers, 1.0-1.2 × 3.2-3.7 in fruits; petals 5, yellow, obovate, 2.9-3.1×4.1-4.3 mm. Anthers yellow, fan-like, 1.2-1.7 × 1.5-2.1 mm. Carpels numerous, free, inserted on convex receptacle; receptacle globose or coniform, 1.7-2.1 mm in diameter, ripening green to light green; styles subterminal, deciduous; aggregate fruits ripening green to brown, 3.5-3.7mm in diameter. Achenes ovoid, rugose, 0.6-0.9 mm in diameter, reniform, green and glabrous when fresh, brown at maturity. Phenology: Flowering period: April to May; fruiting period: May to November. Habitat and distribution: Known from Wangchengpo mountain of Enshi, China, 109º28'30" E, 30º16'55" N, 1540 m, it grows under pine trees, together with shrubs, and from Wuhan Botanical Garden, c. 30º32'46" N, 114º25'05" E, 31 m, it grows at lake side. It also grows at road side, top of mountain, under trees, field side in many areas such as Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Henan, Yunnan, Guangdong and so on, together with D. indica. Table 1. Diagnostic characters of D. brunneus, D. indica and D. indica var. microphylla. Characters D. brunneus D. chrysantha D. indica D. indica var microphylla Leaf 3-5-foliolate, mostly 5-foliolate 3-foliolate 3-foliolate 3-foliolate, petiole densely villous Infloresence Terminal, cymose Axillary, single Axillary, single Axillary, single Epicalyx Lanceolate, integer- edged Obovate, 3-5 serrated Obovate, 3-5 serrated Obovate, 3-5 serrated Receptacle Enlarged, ripening green Enlarged, ripening red or pink Enlarged, ripening red or pink Enlarged, ripening red or pink Stolon 4-6(-12), 0.1-0.5 m long, 2-3 mm in diam 1-3, 0.2 -0.65 m long, 0.6 -1.6 mm in diam. 1-3, 0.2 -0.65 m long, 0.6 -1.6 mm in diam. 1-3, 0.2 -0.65 m long, 0.6 -1.6 mm in diam. Fruits Ripening green to brown Ripening red Ripening red Ripening red DUCHESNEA BRUNNEUS, A NEW SPECIES FROM CHINA 161 161 Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the colour of the ripened aggregate fruits, which is different from the fruit colour of other species in Duchesnea. The differentiating characters of newly described D. brunneus with its closely related species are summarized in Table 1. Paratypes: Found in Hubei University for Nationalities, Enshi, Hubei, China, 30º17'48" N, 109º29'53" E, 456 m, about 100 individuals, and Wangchengpo mountain, Enshi, China, 30º20'31" N, 109º26'45" E, 1456 m, more than 1000 individuals. This species is also found distributed in many areas of China such as Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong and so on. Fig. 1. Duchesnea brunneus. 1. Terminal inflorescence. 2. Flower. 3. Petal. 4. Achenes. 5. Aggregate fruits. 6. Receptacle. 7. Stipule. 8. Calyx. 9. Epicalyx. 10. Anther. 162 LEI et al. Discussion Infrageneric taxonomy of Duchesnea is still unclear and needs further clarification (Naruhashi et al., 1991). In Flora of China (Li et al., 2003), Duchesnea includes D. indica, D. indica var. microphylla and D. chrysantha. However, in USDA classification, Duchesnea includes only D. indica, which is in agreement with Kalkman (1968). In fact, according to our investigation, D. indica, D. indica var. microphylla and D. chrysantha have the same main features and should be united into D. indica (Table 1). The main features of D. brunneus J.Z. Dong having terminal infloresence, petals yellow, receptacle globose and ripening green to light green, aggregate fruits ripe brown provide adequate support for D. brunneus to be a new species different from D. indica, and D. chrysantha. So D. brunneus is identified as a new species. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Ethnological Affair Committee Foundation of China (Grant No. 10HB02), and Doctoral Foundation of Hubei University for Nationalities (498012). We are grateful to anonymous reviewers and scientific editor for their critical review and valuable suggestions, to Zheng Cheng and Deng Jung-Feng for their help in field sampling and investigation. References Kalkman, C. 1968. Potentilla, Duchesnea and Fragaria in Malesia (Rosaceae). Blumea 16(2): 344-348. Li, C.L., Hiroshi, I. and Hideaki, O. 2003. Duchesnea. Flora of China 9: 338-339. Naruhashi, H. and Iwatsubo, Y. 1991. Comparative morphology and chromosome numbers in Duchesnea indica (Rosaceae) from Nepal and Japan. The Himalayan plants. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo 2: 11-15. Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world. A reference guide to environmental weeds. CABI publishing, Wallingford, United Kingdom. 560 pp. (Manuscript received on 24 May 2011; revised on 28 November 2011)