弗特吉族在中国的发现及其意义

在连续数年的稀有濒危植物调研中,发现特产于江苏宜兴的小叶金缕梅实属一误订。该植物花两性,绝无花瓣,故可以肯定是金缕梅亚科中我国唯一缺少的弗特吉族植物。弗特吉族在中国的发现,使中国成为世界上唯一拥有该亚科五个族的国家,证明中国是世界金缕梅亚科的多样性中心,填补了该族在东亚分布的空白,为中国新生代植物研究和对金缕梅科以及被子植物的系统学研究提供了不可缺少的活材料。

On the significance of the discovery of Fothergilleae in China

Through several years' investigation we found that the endemic and endangered species Hamamelis subaequalis Chang of Yixing county, Jiangsu Province which was formally assigned to tribe Hamamelidoideae was taxonomically wrong ordered. The new-described species has apetalous bisexual flowers and some other distinctive morphological characters which showed that it should be belonging to tribe Fothergilleae and taxonomically renamed it as Shanivdendron subaequale M. B. Deng, H. T. Wei & X. Q. Wang in memory of late professor R. H. Shan. Since the discovery of the tribe Fothergilleae in the southern part of Jiangsu Province, the Cathaysia region in China, becomes the only region which includes all five tribes of subfamily Hamamelidoideae, and this same region also may be looked as the region of diversity of this subfamily in the world. The floristics gap of the tribe Fothergilleae in China is thus filled, and its distribution areas are linked up. However, the tribe Fothergilleae was the only tribe never recorded in the subfamily Hamamelidoideae in the Cathaysia region before. The authors pointed out that the existence of Fothergilleae in China may be useful for the research of palaeobotany, for disjunction between continents, for relic plants, as well as for research of the evolution of Hamamelidaceae, and even for other angiosperms. The authors also suggest that this endemic and endangered species Shanivdendron subaequale M. B. Deng, H. T. Wei et X. Q. Wang should be protected as soon as possible in Yixing county, Jiangsu Province.