Cinnamomum huarum (Lauraceae): A new species from Yunnan of China

Abstract [Objective] The study aims to identify and describe a new species Cinnamomum huarum (Lauraceae), which was collected from Nanjian, Yunnan of China. [Methods] This species was confirmed as a new taxa by morphological comparison with morphologically similar species and molecular phylogenetic study based on chloroplast genome data. [Results] The new species was similar to C. chago: Pinnately veined, leaves opposite or subopposite, long acumen, branchlets sparsely puberulent, terminal bud densely pubescent, leaf blade gray white abaxially and puberulent, margin undulate and fruit oblate. The chloroplast genome size of this species was 154 078 bp, which was 1 325 bp longer than C. chago and 1 348 bp longer than C. pittosporoides, having an extra 678 bp fragment in the inverted repeat region compared to C. chago and C. pittosporoides. In the phylogenetic tree constructed with whole chloroplast genome of 36 Lauraceae species, C. huarum formed an independent parallel branch with C. pittosporoides and other species. [Conclusion] Both the morphological and phylogenetic research indicate that C. huarum is a distinct species.