Name:

Aspidistra albopurpurea Aver. & Tillich – Nordic J. Bot. 32(6): 752. (2013).

Holotype:

 

 

Vietnam, Cao Bang Prov., Trung Khanh Distr., Ngoc Khe Municipality, Pac Nga village, around point 22 ° 54′59 ″ N, 106 ° 31′44 ″ E, 800 – 850 m a.s.l., remnants of primary evergreen broad-leaved forest along tops of rocky ridges and mesae composed with light gray solid marblelike highly eroded crystalline limestone, 10 Jun 2004, L. Averyanov, P. K. Loc, P. V. Th e, N. T. Vinh, HAL 5579 (holotype: HN, isotypes: LE, MO).

Distribution:

Vietnam: Cao Bang province.

Phenology:

Flowers in nature in May–June.

Description

from 

protologue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhizome creeping, plagiotropic, sparsely branching, 3–4(6) cm long, densely nodal, covered by fibrous bract remains, with many brownish roots. Cataphylls convolute, cuneate, as young white at the base, greenish toward apex, speckled with purple, later becoming dull light brownish, to 12(14) cm long, early splitting into irregular fibres, enveloping petiole by fibrous-papyraceous remains. Leaves 2–3 (4), densely arising from rhizome apex, petiolate. Petiole stiff, erect, straight or hardly inclined, (15)20–25(30) cm long. Leaf blade ascending to arching, elliptic, shortly attenuate at base and at apex, (10)12–14(16) cm long, (2.5)3.0–4.0(4.5) cm wide, more or less straight along margin, dark green, with strong, prominent midvein and insignifi cant, secondary veins. Flowers solitary, arising from the rhizome near apex, pedunculate. Peduncle arising horizontally, arching or flexuose, white to pink or light purplish, terete, (3)4–8(10) cm long, 2.0–2.5 mm in diameter, with (3)4–5(6) sterile bracts; bracts broadly ovate, concave, thin, white, speckled with purple, obtuse to acute, 0.5–1.5 cm long, and 4–10 mm wide. Floral bract 1, white, speckled with purple, broadly triangular- ovate, concave, 1.0–1.5 cm long and wide, more or less densely adpressed to perigone from below. Flowers horizontally placed. Perigone tube widely bowl-shaped, white on both surfaces, with scattered red dots outside, 0.8–1.0 cm long, 1.4–1.6 cm in diameter, with 6 lobes. Lobes subequal, triangular, fl eshy, fl at, obtuse to blunt at apex, shallowly verruculose, slightly recurved, 3-grooved, 6–10 mm long, 5–7(8) mm wide at base, adaxially black–purple at base, white at apex, abaxially white, heavily spotted with light purple. Stamens 6, subsessile or on very short fi laments, inserted at the bottom of perigone; anthers bean-shaped, 2.0–2.5 mm long, 0.8–1.0 mm wide; pollen sacs introrse; pollen light yellow. Pistil desk-shaped, peltate; ovary inconspicuous; style stout, white, cylindrical, (4)5–6(7) mm tall, 1.5–2.0 mm in diameter; stigma fleshy, discoid-peltate, white, purple along margin (thus forming a striking contrast to the milk-white tube base), 4–5 mm in diameter, 3-lobed, with semicircular lobes, its upper surface verrucose.

Sourses:

Averyanov L.V. & Tillich H.J. (2013) – Nordic J. Bot. 32(6): 752–760.

Gallery: