Name:

Aspidistra nigra Aver., Tillich & K.S.Nguyen – Nordic J. Bot. 36(7)-e01833: 7. (2018).

Subtaxa:

 

Aspidistra heterocarpa var. heterocarpa Aver., Tillich & K.S.Nguyen – Nordic J. Bot. 36(7)-e01833: 7. (2018).

Aspidistra heterocarpa var. echinata Aver., Tillich & K.S.Nguyen – Nordic J. Bot. 36(7)-e01833: 7. (2018).

Holotype:

 

 

 

 

 

Aspidistra heterocarpa var. heterocarpa: Vietnam, Thua Thien – Hue province, Phu Loc district, Bach Ma national park, primary degraded shady evergreen broad-leaved forest around point 16º12ʹ59.77ʹʹN, 107º51ʹ37.59ʹʹE, at 687 m a.s.l., terrestrial rhizomatous herb, with leaves to 1 m tall, locality common. 2 Dec 2017, Pham Van The, Dong Shiyong, Hoang Tu Uyen, PVT-BM 1 (holotype: HN)

Aspidistra heterocarpa var. echinata: Vietnam, Thua Thien – Hue province, Nam Dong district, Thuong Quang commune, around point 16°07ʹ28.5ʹʹN, 107°35ʹ52.9ʹʹE, primary and secondary evergreen broad-leaved lowland forest at 500–550 m a.s.l., terrestrial herb on shady slope, not common, 10 Nov 2017, Le Tuan Anh, Nguyen Thi Lien Thuong, LTA101 (holotype: LE).

Distribution:

Vietnam: Thua Thien – Hue province.

Phenology:

Flowers in November–December in nature.

Description

from 

protologue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhizome narrow, rigid, epigeous, ascending to erect, (3)5– 8(10) cm long, simple, rarely few-branching, (2.5)3.0– 4.0(5.0) mm in diameter, densely nodal, with numerous thick, rigid, semi woody, wiry roots, leafy throughout. Cataphylls convolute, cuneate, dull purple-brown when young, later dull yellowish-brown, papyraceous, early disintegrated, to (2.5)4.0–12.0(16.0) cm long, (1.0)1.2–1.4(1.6) cm wide (when flattened out). Leaves more or less loosely distant on rhizome, petiolate; petiole stiff, oblique to erect, straight, (10)14–28(32) cm long; leaf blade arching, narrowly elliptic, tapering at base and apex, (16)18–30(35) cm long, (3.0)4.0–6.0(6.5) cm wide, more or less flat, uniformly grassy green on both surfaces, with prominent midvein on lower surface and (1)2–3(4) inconspicuous secondary veins at both sides. Flowers odorless, commonly 1 or 2 on an individual stem, pedunculate to subsessile, kept in horizontal position, not widely opening. Peduncle light greenish to almost white, (4)5–7(8) mm long, 1.0–1.5 mm in diameter, appearing by one, kept horizontally, with 3–4(5) bracts, the two distal of which adjacent to perigone tube; bracts ovate to broadly ovate, concave, papyraceous to scarious, dull brownish-gray, obtuse, (2.0)2.2–2.8(3.4) mm long and wide. Perigone (5.5)7.0–8.0(9.0) mm in diameter, of 6 lobes; perigone tube campanulate to weakly urceolate, 5.0–5.5 mm long, (4.8)5.0–5.5(5.8) mm in diameter, glossy white to light yellowish outside, white inside in lower two thirds, deep purple above stamens insertion; perigone lobes in two circles, broadly triangular ovate, slightly concave, obtuse to almost orbicular at apex, fleshy, smooth, straight or hardly reflexed, (4.2)4.5–5.6(6.0) mm long, (3.8)4.0–4.5(4.8) mm wide, with adaxial surface smooth, dark purple, and abaxial surface glossy white with a narrow dull-purple margin; lobes of inner whorl (petals) roundish at apex, the outer (sepals) obtuse. Stamens 6; inserted at middle part of tube, filamentose; filaments white, short, fleshy 0.8–1.0 mm long, 0.7–0.8 mm across; anthers introrse, bean-shaped, 1.8–2.2 mm long, about as long as wide; pollen pale yellow. Pistil mushroom-shaped, peltate to sub-capitate; ovary inconspicuous; style stout, white, cylindrical, (2.4)2.5–2.6(2.8) mm tall, (1.3)1.4–1.5(1.6) mm in diameter; stigma fleshy, shortly obpyramidal, convex at apex, white, entire or indistinctly 3-lobed, (2.8)3.0(3.2) mm in diameter; upper surface of stigma smooth to finely verruculose. Fruit berry-like, 1-seeded, subglobular, (0.7)0.8–0.9(1.0) cm in diameter, white to dirty green, smooth and glossy.

Sourses:

Averyanov et al. (2018) – Nordic Journal of Botany: e01833.

Gallery: