Primulina xiziae sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from Zhejiang Province,China

A new species of Gesneriaceae, Primulina xiziae Fang Wen, Yue Wang & G. J. Hua, from Zhejiang Province, China, is identified, illustrated and described. It resembles the widespread P. eburnea, and the stenochoric P. pseudoeburnea, but differs by the leaf blades being ovate‐elliptic or ovate, chartaceous with ciliate margins, 8.5–13.8 mm long, slender peduncle, ovate, ca 1.2 × 1.0 cm large bracts that are generally withered but persistent before full‐blooming stage, slender tubular‐infundibuliform, ca 25.0 × 7.5 mm corolla tube, limb lobes with acute apices, 3 staminodes, and by forming a dormancy bud in winter.     

Carex dapanshanica sp. nov. (C. sect. Mitratae,Cyperaceae) from Zhejiang,China

Carex dapanshanica X. F. Jin, Y. J. Zhao & Z. L. Chen, a new species of Cyperaceae from Mount Dapan, Zhejiang Province, eastern China is described and illustrated. The new species is morphologically similar to C. chungii C. P. Wang, but differs in having 2 or 3spikes, pistillate scales with brown margins and short‐awned at apex, and glabrous perigynia. Micromorphological photographs of the achenes of C. dapanshanica and C. chungii under SEM (scanning electron microscope) are provided as well.     

Primula vallicola sp. nov. (Primulaceae) from Sichuan,China

A new species of Primula, P. vallicola Y. Xu, G. Hao & C.M. Hu, is described and illustrated from Sichuan province, China. Based on general morphology the new species is assigned to Primula sect. Aleuritia subsect. Yunnanensis. It is closely allied to P. kialensis, but can be distinguished by its larger stature, leaf shape, and the well‐differentiated petiole. The leaf shape of the new species is ovate to ovate‐elliptic and usually sub‐rounded at base. The new species also resembles P. homogama, but differs in being glabrous rather than with appressed hairs, and with longer petiole.     

Goniothalamus banii sp. nov. (Annonaceace) from Thanh Hoa,Vietnam

A new species of Goniothalamus (Blume) Hook.f. & Thomson (Annonaceae), G. banii B. H. Quang, R. K. Choudhary & V.T. Chinh, is described and illustrated from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. This species shows morphological similarities with G. uvarioides King and G. donnaiensis Finet & Gagnep. but is differentiated by having 22–30 (or more) secondary veins in the leaf, a 1–3‐flowered cyme, a ca 2–3 cm long pedicel, lanceolate and tomentose outer petals, stipitate obovoid‐oblong monocarps, and a single‐seeded monocarp.     

Pertya multiflora sp. nov. (Asteraceae,Pertyeae) from Zhejiang,China

Pertya multiflora Cai F. Zhang & T. G. Gao (Asteraceae, Pertyeae) sp. nov. from Zhejiang Province of China is described and illustrated. It is similar to P. pubescens and P. pungens which all have leaves with small spherical glassy tawny glands, but differ by narrowly ovate to nearly elliptic leaves, capitula solitary or in pairs on terminal branches, capitula with 20–30 florets and 9–12‐seriate involucres. Information on phenology, distribution and ecology of P. multiflora is presented, along with a conservation assessment as Critically Endangered (CR) using the IUCN red list criteria. A key to the known species of Pertya in southeast China is provided.     

中国算盘子属植物省级分布新记录

报道了叶下珠科算盘子属4种植物在中国6个省区的分布新记录,其中贵州分布新记录有圆果算盘子［Glochidion sphaerogynum (Müll. Arg.) Kurz］,广东分布新记录有宽果算盘子(G. oblatum Hook. f.)和台闽算盘子(G. rubrum Blume),海南和广西分布新记录有宽果算盘子,湖南分布新记录有湖北算盘子(G. wilsonii Hutch.),浙江分布新记录有台闽算盘子。     

A NEW AGAROPHYTE SPECIES,GELIDIUM EUCORNEUM SP. NOV. (GELIDIALES,RHODOPHYTA), BASED ON MOLECULAR AND MORPHOLOGICAL DATA1

Gelidium is an economically and ecologically important agar‐producing genus. Although the taxonomy of Gelidium has been the focus of many published studies, there is still a need to reevaluate species‐level diversity. Herein, we describe Gelidium eucorneum sp. nov. based on specimens collected off Geojedo on the southern coast of Korea. G. eucorneum is distinguished by cartilaginous thalli with brush‐like haptera, rhizoidal filaments concentrated in the medulla, and globose cytocarps that are horned with multiple determinate branchlets. The species occurs in wave‐exposed intertidal sites, sometimes in association with other mat‐forming algae. Phylogenetic analyses (rbcL, psaA, and cox1) reveal that G. eucorneum is unique and clearly distinct from other species of the genus. The clade containing Gelidium vagum and Acanthopeltis longiramulosa was resolved as a sister group to G. eucorneum. We suggest that the diverse morphologies of G. eucorneum, G. vagum, and Acanthopeltis developed from a common ancestor in East Asian waters. This study shows that even in well‐studied areas, more agarophyte species are to be added to the world inventory of red algae.     

SYSTEMATICS OF GRATELOUPIA FILICINA (HALYMENIACEAE,RHODOPHYTA), BASED ON rbcL SEQUENCE ANALYSES AND MORPHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE,INCLUDING THE REINSTATEMENT OF G. MINIMA AND THE DESCRIPTION OF G. CAPENSIS SP. NOV.1

Grateloupia filicina (C. Agardh) Lamouroux, originally described from the Mediterranean Sea, has long been considered a textbook example of a marine red alga with a cosmopolitan distribution. An rbcL‐based molecular phylogeny, encompassing samples covering the entire geographic distribution of the species, revealed a plethora of “cryptic” species, whereby the presence of genuine G. filicina is limited to the Mediterranean basin. The phylogeny revealed a strong biogeographic imprint, with specimens from temperate regions resolved in clades composed of species inhabiting the same geographic region. Presence of widely divergent morphologies in the temperate clades indicated that several lineages have converged independently to a G. filicina‐type morphology. Tropical representatives are resolved in a single clade with very uniform G. filicina‐type morphology and pairwise sequence divergences that are lower than the average divergence observed in temperate lineages. This, combined with a lack of clear geographic structure among the tropical lineages, may indicate a more recent divergence with long‐range dispersal capacities. Violations to the biogeographic signal in temperate lineages seemed to be due to either inadequate taxonomy or recent introductions. Grateloupia minima P. & H. Crouan, a taxon placed in synonymy under G. filicina, is reinstated as a separate species distributed in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Grateloupia capensis sp. nov. is described to accommodate specimens from South Africa with a G. filicina‐type morphology, and G. filicina var. luxurians is elevated to species status. Morphological and anatomical characters were put forward that support the distinctiveness of these three distinct species.     

Bupleurum shanianum sp. nov. (Apiaceae) from China

Bupleurum shanianum X. G. Ma & X. J. He, previously recognized in China as B. gracillimum, is proposed here as a new species. This new species and B. gracillimum differ in many morphological characters (flowering stem position, bract size, number of flowers per umbellule) and have non‐overlapping distribution ranges. Bupleurum shanianum is most similar to B. yunnanense Franch., but the new species has shorter cauline leaves, and umbellules usually with 4 bracteoles and 3–6(–9) flowers. Bupleurum shanianum is known from eastern Himalayas to western Sichuan.     

Salvia petrophila sp. nov. (Lamiaceae) from north Guangxi and south Guizhou,China

Salvia petrophila G. X. Hu, E. D. Liu & Yan Liu, a new species from the Chinese provinces of north Guangxi and south Guizhou, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to S. miltiorrhiza, but can easily be distinguished by its shorter, unbranched stem, subsucculent simple leaf, longer pedicel and corolla tube, oblong‐entire middle lobe of lower corolla lip and larger oblate pollen. It is included in S. sect. Drymosphace on the basis of its falcate‐compressed upper corolla lip and connivent posterior connectives. Trichome and pollen micromorphology of the new species and similar species are described and compared. Additionally, assessment of the conservation status, current geographical distribution and notes on ecology of the new species are given.     

TWO TYPES OF AUXILIARY CELL AMPULLAE IN GRATELOUPIA (HALYMENIACEAE,RHODOPHYTA), INCLUDING G. TAIWANENSIS SP. NOV. AND G. ORIENTALIS SP. NOV. FROM TAIWAN BASED ON rbcL GENE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS AND CYSTOCARP DEVELOPMENT1

Few species in the genus Grateloupia have been investigated in detail with respect to the development of the auxiliary cell ampullae before or after diploidization. In this study, we document the vegetative and reproductive structures of two new species of Grateloupia, G. taiwanensis S.‐M. Lin et H.‐Y. Liang sp. nov. and G. orientalis S.‐M. Lin et H.‐Y. Liang sp. nov., plus a third species, G. ramosissima Okamura, from Taiwan. Two distinct patterns are reported for the development of the auxiliary cell ampullae: (1) ampullae consisting of three orders of unbranched filaments that branch after diploidization of the auxiliary cell and form a pericarp together with the surrounding secondary medullary filaments (G. taiwanensis type), and (2) ampullae composed of only two orders of unbranched filaments in which only a few cells are incorporated into a basal fusion cell after diploization of the auxiliary cell and the pericarp consists almost entirely of secondary medullary filaments (G. orientalis type). G. orientalis is positioned in a large clade based on rbcL gene sequence analysis that includes the type species of Grateloupia C. Agardh 1822 , G. filicina. G. taiwanensis clusters with a clade that includes the generitype of Phyllymenia J. Agardh 1848 , Ph. belangeri from South Africa; that of Prionitis J. Agardh 1851 , Pr. lanceolata from Pacific North America; and that of Pachymeniopsis Y. Yamada ex Kawab. 1954, Pa. lanceolata from Japan. A reexamination of the type species of the genera Grateloupia, Phyllymenia, Prionitis, and Pachymeniopsis is required to clarify the generic and interspecific relationships among the species presently placed in Grateloupia.     

Hemiboea lutea sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from Guangxi,China

Hemiboea lutea F. Wen, G. Y. Liang & Y. G. Wei, a new species in Gesneriaceae is described and illustrated from Guangxi, China. It differs from the similar species H. cavaleriei by having sessile or subsessile leaves, longer peduncles (6–10 cm), spheroidal or triangular‐spheroidal subinvolucre, 5‐divided calyx with lobes fused for 1/3 of their length, revolute and uncinate apex of calyx lobes, larger bright yellow corolla (5–7 cm long), longer staminodes with indistinctively uncinate anther and longer pistil (3.5–3.7 cm).     

Persicaria changhuaensis sp. nov. (Polygonaceae) from northwestern Zhejiang,China

Persicaria changhuaensis sp. nov., belonging to P. sect. Echinocaulon (Polygonaceae), from Zhejiang, eastern China, is described and illustrated. The new species is morphologically similar to P. senticosa (Meisn.) H. Gross ex Nakai and P. sagittata (L.) H. Gross ex Nakai var. sieboldii (Meisn.) Nakai, but differs from the former in having an ocrea without a reniform‐orbicular wing at apex, pubescent peduncle, triangular bracteoles, white perianth, and stamens exserted from the perianth. Compared to P. sagittata var. sieboldii, it differs in having the leaf blade triangular‐hastate, sparsely retrorsely‐prickled on abaxial veins, sparsely ciliate at the margin, pubescent peduncle, triangular bracteoles, and stamens exserted from the perianth.     

Ferula paeoniifolia sp. nov. (Apiaceae) from Sichuan,China

Ferula paeoniifolia X. G. Ma & C. Y. Liao sp. nov., from Sichuan Province, Southwest China, is described and illustrated. The new species is most similar to F. kingdon‐wardii Wolff in morphology, but differs significantly in its ternate‐2‐pinnate compound leaves with much broader leaflets. The key morphological characteristics and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were also compared between F. paeoniifolia and its relatives.     

Ainsliaea asaroides sp. nov. (Asteraceae) from Guangdong,China

Ainsliaea asaroides Y. S. Ye, Jun Wang & H. G. Ye (Asteraceae), a new species from Guangdong, China, is described and illustrated. The new species resembles A. gracilis Franch. but can be distinguished by its sub‐leathery, cordate leaves, villose petiole, thyrsoid inflorescence and the number of florets. A key to allied species is provided.     

Morphology,ultrastructure, and molecular phylogeny of Wangodinium sinense gen. et sp. nov. (Gymnodiniales,Dinophyceae) and revisiting of Gymnodinium dorsalisulcum and Gymnodinium impudicum

The genus Gymnodinium includes many morphologically similar species, but molecular phylogenies show that it is polyphyletic. Eight strains of Gymnodinium impudicum, Gymnodinium dorsalisulcum and a novel Gymnodinium‐like species from Chinese and Malaysian waters and the Mediterranean Sea were established. All of these strains were examined with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. SSU, LSU and internal transcribed spacers rDNA sequences were obtained. A new genus, Wangodinium, was erected to incorporate strains with a loop‐shaped apical structure complex (ASC) comprising two rows of amphiesmal vesicles, here referred to as a new type of ASC. The chloroplasts of Wangodinium sinense are enveloped by two membranes. Pigment analysis shows that peridinin is the main accessory pigment in W. sinense. Wangodinium differs from other genera mainly in its unique ASC, and additionally differs from Gymnodinium in the absence of nuclear chambers, and from Lepidodinium in the absence of Chl b and nuclear chambers. New morphological information was provided for G. dorsalisulcum and G. impudicum, e.g., a short sulcal intrusion in G. dorsalisulcum; nuclear chambers in G. impudicum and G. dorsalisulcum; and a chloroplast enveloped by two membranes in G. impudicum. Molecular phylogeny was inferred using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference with independent SSU and LSU rDNA sequences. Our results support the classification of Wangodinium within the Gymnodiniales sensu stricto clade and it is close to Lepidodinium. Our results also support the close relationship among G. dorsalisulcum, G. impudicum, and Barrufeta. Further research is needed to assign these Gymnodinium species to Barrufeta or to erect new genera.     

Primula persimilis sp. nov. (Primulaceae) from Sichuan,China

A new species of Primulaceae, Primula persimilis G. Hao, C.M. Hu & Y. Xu, from Sichuan, China, is described and illustrated. In general morphology it is allied to the species of P. sect. Monocarpicae, characterized by the presence of multi‐cellular hairs, the distinctly petiolate leaves, a campanulate calyx, and a globose or cylindrical capsule with valvate dehiscence. The new species superficially resembles P. tsiangii W.W. Smith, but can be distinguished by its white flowers, longer calyx lobes, and cylindrical capsules.     

GRACILARIA HUMMII SP. NOV. (GRACILARIALES,RHODOPHYTA), A NEW NAME FOR THE AGAROPHYTE “GRACILARIA CONFERVOIDES” HARVESTED IN NORTH CAROLINA DURING WORLD WAR II1

Gracilaria hummii Hommers. et Freshwater is proposed as a new name for the inshore cylindrical species found in North Carolina that was treated as Gracilaria confervoides (L.) Grev. during World War II, and more recently as G. verrucosa (Huds.) Papenf. Molecular evidence places G. hummii in the Gracilis‐group in Gracilaria together with G. gracilis (Stackh.) Steentoft, L. M. Irvine et Farnham, the name currently applied to specimens formerly identified as G. confervoides and G. verrucosa. G. hummii differs from G. gracilis in possessing shallower male conceptacles in which the spermatangial filament originates from a surface cortical cell rather than from a subcortical cell. The cystocarps are similar, except that the gonimoblasts of G. hummii are attached to the base of the pericarp by numerous, prominent thickened terminal tubular cells and because terminal tubular cells are absent above the midregion of the cystocarp or in the vicinity of the ostiole. The gonimoblasts are subtended by a bundle of longitudinally oriented, thick‐walled secondary filaments of a type that has not been described before in Gracilaria but that may be characteristic of some other species. G. hummii occupies a basal position in the Gracilis‐group and is distinct from all other cylindrical North Carolina Gracilaria species, according to the molecular and morphological evidence.     

Gaultheria gonggashanensis sp. nov. (Ericaceae) from Sichuan,China

Gaultheria gonggashanensis P. W. Fritsch & Lu Lu, a new species from western Sichuan Province, China, is described and illustrated. This species belongs to Gaultheria ser. Trichophyllae Airy Shaw and is most similar to G. sinensis J. Anthony, but differs by its longer stem setae, glabrous petioles and leaf blade midveins adaxially, thick‐chartaceous to subcoriaceous leaf blades, larger calyx lobes, and smaller anther thecae. The species is known with certainty only from the Hailuo Valley on the east slope of Mount Gongga in the Daxue Range.