Aspidistra dissecta C. R. Lin & Yan Liu 2024, sp. nov.

2. Aspidistra dissecta C.R. Lin & Yan Liu, sp. nov. (Fig. 2) Type:— CHINA. Guangxi: Baise City, Debao County, Yandong Town, 106.6752° E, 23.1821° N, at elevation about 600 m a.s.l., limestone hills, not common, 26 November 2017, Chun-Rui Lin & Ying Qin 1064 (holotype: IBK, isotype: IBK). Additional specimen examined (paratype):— CHINA. Guangxi: Baise city, Jingxi city, Bangliang East black crowned gibbon National Nature Reserve, 106.470° E, 22.923° N, at elevation about 709 m, on limestone hill, 6 November 2020, Ping Yang & Gao Xie BL141 5 (IBK). Guilin City, Botany Garden of Guilin, cultivation, 12 December 2021, Chun-Rui Lin 1423 (IBK, cultivated plant collected by Ying Qin from Debao County, Yandong Town, 18 January 2017). Diagnosis:— Aspidistra dissecta is morphologically similar to A. dahuaensis, but clearly distinguished by its perianth campanulate to nearly urceolate, perianth lobes inside purplish red and finely papillose, stigma deeply 3 (4)-lobed, each lobe distally 2-lobed again, upper surface densely fine papillose. Herbs perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, subterete, 5–8 mm in diameter, covered with scales, nodes dense. Leaf sheaths 3–4, light green, becoming black-brown when dry, 1–9 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, 5–10 mm apart; petiole stiff upright, 12–30 cm long, ca. 2 mm thick, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade usually oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 14–20 cm long, 3.5–6.5 cm wide, dark green, occasionally scattered with yellowish white spots on both surfaces, apex acuminate, base cuneate, inequilateral, with midvein prominent at abaxial surface and 3–4 inconspicuous secondary veins on lower surface, margin entire. Peduncle arising from the nodes of apical part of rhizome, 5–25 mm long, with 3–4 bracts, bracts gradually wider from base to top of peduncle, the two most basal bracts of perianth broadly ovate-cucullate, 5–6 mm long, 6–7 mm wide, pale green with purplish red spots, apex acuminate. Flowers solitary, sparse. Perianth campanulate to nearly urceolate, fleshy, slightly 6 (rarely 8)-lobed apically; lobes usually slightly suberect or recurved, subequal, ovate-triangular, 3–5 mm long, 4–5 mm wide at base, outside pale green-yellow with purplish red spots densely, inside purplish red and finely papillose, thickened at base, apex acuminate; tube 6–9 mm long, 9–14 mm in diameter, outside pale green-yellow or pale white, and sometimes with purplish red spots, inside blackish purple and shallowly papillose at the upper part of the perianth tube, white at the lower half of the tube. Stamens 6 (rarely 8, matching lobe number), opposite to lobes, inserted in the middle of perianth tube, positioned lower than stigma, filaments ascending or almost horizontal, white, 1–2 mm long, anthers oblong, ca. 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide, pollen light yellow. Pistil 5–6 mm long, ovary inconspicuous, style completely white or white with purple mottling at lower half, cylindrical, ca. 2 mm in diameter, stigma peltate, enlarged, white, 5–10 mm in diameter, deeply 3 (4)-lobed at margin, each lobe distally 2-lobed again, lobes explanate and margin slightly rolled up, upper surface nearly flat and densely fine papillose, lower surface white and mottled with purplish red around the margin. Fruits subglobose, 15–20 mm in diameter, surface purplish red mottled and glabrous when young, dark purple and slightly irregularly tuberculate at maturity. Phenology:— The new species was observed flowering from October to December, fruiting mature in the next year from November to December. Etymology:— The specific epithet refers to the stigma deeply 3 (4)-lobed with the lobes bifurcate. The Chinese name is “ ẍṳDzuDzã ” (pinyin: shēn liè zhī zhū bào dàn). Distribution and ecology:— Aspidistra dissecta is currently known from Debao county and Jingxi city in southwestern Guangxi, China. It grows in the rock crevices on shaded, limestone slopes, under sparse forest of the valley, at elevation range 550– 750 m. Similar species:— Aspidistra dissecta is similar to A. dahuaensis D.X. Nong & L.Y. Yu in Nong et al. (2020: 84), but differs by leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 14–20 × 3.5–6.5 cm (vs. oblong to ovate-oblong, 17–25 × 5.5–8 cm), perianth campanulate to nearly urceolate (vs. widely bowl-shaped), perianth lobes purplish red (vs. yellowish green or light yellow) and densely fine papillose (vs. glabrous), stigma deeply 3 (4)-lobed with the lobes obviously bifurcate (vs. 3–4-lobed deeply to centre, the lobes shallowly 3-lobed again), upper surface densely fine papillose (vs. glossy). The new species is also similar to A. huanjiangensis G.Z. Li &Y.G. Wei (2003: 384), however, it can be clearly distinguished by the bigger perianth tube 9–14 (vs. 8 mm) in diameter and perianth lobes 3–5 × 4–5 mm (vs. 2 × 2 mm), perianth lobes inside purplish red (vs. yellow or yellowish green) and finely papillose (vs. glabrous), stigma lobes explanate (vs. strip-shaped) and upper surface white (vs. purple), densely fine papillose (vs. glossy). In addition, it is also similar to A. tripartita Vislobokov & Nuraliev in Visloblkov et al. (2024: 42) with respect to perianth tube shape and deeply lobed stigma, but it can be clearly distinguished by the leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 14–20 × 3.5–6.5 cm (vs. ensiform, 28–71.5 × 2.6–3.1 cm), perianth usually pale white at the lower half of the tube (vs. uniformly crimson), stamens absent (vs. present) supraconnectives, and anther facing introrse (vs. downwards), stigma upper surface white (vs. crimson) and lobe explanate (vs. cylindrical).