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

4. Aspidistra anlongensis C.R. Lin & Yan Liu, sp. nov. (Fig. 4) Type:— CHINA. Guizhou province:Anlong county, Dushan town, limestone mountains, on shady slopes, 105.579° E, 25.298° N, elevation 1100 m, 20 February 2023, Chun-Rui Lin & Chun-Yu Zou 1695 (holotype: IBK, isotype: IBK). Diagnosis:— The new species is morphologically similar to A. cruciformis, but clearly distinguished by its leaf blade pachyphyllous, perianth lobes ovate-lanceolate, 10–12 mm long, yellowish white inside, each with 2 parallel, finely papillose keels at base, stamens inserted at the middle of perianth tube, pistil slightly longer than half the length of the tube. Herbs perennial, evergreen, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, subterete, 7–9 mm in diameter, densely nodal. Leaf sheath 4–5, dull reddish-brown, up to 8 cm long, enveloping base of petiole, fibrous when withered. Leaves solitary, 1–2 cm apart; petiole stiff upright, 10–20 cm long, 2–3 mm in diameter, adaxially sulcate; leaf blade pachyphyllous, usually elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 30–42 cm long and 6–9.5 cm wide. dark green, sometimes with small greenish yellow spots, base cuneate and attenuate, inequilateral, apex acuminate, margin denticulate, with prominent midvein on lower surface, each half of lamina with 6–7 inconspicuous secondary veins. Peduncle suberect or declining, white, sometimes with purplish red spots, 1.5–4.5 cm long, with 4–5 bracts, the two bracts at the base of perianth broadly ovate, white with purplish red spots to purplish red, 13–15 mm long, 16–18 cm wide, apex obtuse. Flowers solitary at the top of the peduncle. Perianth campanulate, fleshy, outside purplish red or white with purplish red spots densely, deeply 8-lobed apically; lobes usually explanate, subequal, ovate-lanceolate, 10–12 mm long and 4–5 mm wide at base, apex obtuse, inside yellowish white and often with small purplish red spots at base, each with 2 parallel, purplish red, finely papillose keels at base; tube 12–15 mm long, 14–16 mm in diameter, upper part of tube inside blackish purple and densely papillose, lower part of tube white. Stamens 8, opposite to lobes, inserted at the middle of perianth tube, positioned lower than stigma, filaments ca. 1 mm long, anthers pale yellow, oblong, ca. 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Pistil peltate, 7–8 mm long, ovary inconspicuous, style white, cylindrical, 4–5 mm tall, ca. 2 mm in diameter, stigma nearly cross-shape, purplish red, 12–13 mm in diameter, deeply 4-lobed to center, lobes explanate, emarginate or 2-lobed again at apex, margin slightly rolled up. Phenology:— The new species was observed flowering from January to February. Etymology:— The specific epithet ‘ anlongensis ’ is derived from the name of the type locality, Anlong county, Guizhou, China. The Chinese name is given as “ üfiDzuDzã ” (Chinese pinyin: ān lóng zhī zhū bào dàn). Distribution and ecology:— The new species is currently only known from the type locality in Anlong county, southwest Guizhou, China. It grows under broad-leaved evergreen forests, in shaded rocky limestone slopes at elevation range of 1000–1200 m. Living plants introduced from the type locality are currently cultivated in Guilin Botanical Garden. Similar species:— Aspidistra anlongensis is similar to A. cruciformis Y. Wan & X. H. Lu in Wan (1987: 217) in the sigma cross-shaped, but differs by the leaf blade pachyphyllous (vs. thin), petiole shorter, 10–20 cm (vs. 30–50 cm) long, perianth lobes 10–12 mm (vs. 5–6.5 mm) long, inside yellowish white (vs. purple), each with 2 parallel, finely papillose keels at base (vs. without keels), stamens inserted at the middle of (vs. the lower quarter of) perianth tube, pistil slightly longer than (vs. obviously shorter than) half the length of the tube, 7–8 mm (vs. 5 mm) long. The new species is also similar to Aspidistra pingfaensis S.Z. He & Q.W. Sun in Sun et al. (2014: 33), but it can be clearly distinguished by the leaf blade elliptic (vs. linear) and 6–9.5 cm (vs. 2–2.8 cm) wide, perianth lobes ovate-lanceolate (vs. triangular) and 10–12 mm (vs. 5–6.5 mm) long, yellowish white (vs. purple) inside, each lobe with 2 keels at base (vs. glabrous), upper part of tube inside densely papillose (vs. glabrous), stigma lobes margin slightly rolled up (vs. explanate). It is also similar to Aspidistra qijiangensis S.Z. He & X.Y. Luo in Luo et al. (2018: 74) in perianth tube shape and stigma margin 4-lobed, but it can be clearly distinguished by the elliptic (vs. narrow oblanceolate) leaf blade 30–42× 6–9.5 cm (vs. 70–95× 2.5–4 cm), perianth lobes ovate-lanceolate (vs. triangular) and 10–12 mm (vs. 4.5–5 mm) long, bigger perianth tube (12–15× 14–16 cm vs. 5–10× 10–12 cm), bigger stigma 12–13 mm (vs. 5–8 mm) in diameter, purplish red (vs. lower white), upper surface flat (vs. slightly convex).