Bulletin of _ The Natural History Bfit-RSH MU8&M PRIteifTBD QENERAl LIBRARY Botany Series VOLUME 23 NUMBER 2 25 NOVEMBER 1993 The Bulletin of The Natural History Museum (formerly: Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)), instituted in 1949, is issued in four scientific series, Botany, Entomology, Geology (incorporating Mineralogy) and Zoology. The Botany Series is edited in the Museum's Department of Botany Keeper of Botany: Dr S. Blackmore Editor of Bulletin: Dr R. Huxley Assistant Editor: Mrs M.J. West Papers in the Bulletin are primarily the results of research carried out on the unique and ever- growing collections of the Museum, both by the scientific staff and by specialists from elsewhere who make use of the Museum's resources. Many of the papers are works of reference that will remain indispensable for years to come. All papers submitted for publication are subjected to external peer review for acceptance. A volume contains about 160 pages, made up by two numbers, published in the Spring and Autumn. Subscriptions may be placed for one or more of the series on an annual basis. Individual numbers and back numbers can be purchased and a Bulletin catalogue, by series, is available. Orders and enquiries should be sent to: Intercept Ltd. P.O. Box 716 Andover Hampshire SPIO lYG Telephone: (0264) 334748 Fax: (0264) 334058 WorW Lwr abbreviation: Bull. nat. Hist. Mus. Lond. (Bot.) © The Natural History Museum, 1993 Botany Series ISSN 0968-0446 Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 55-177 The Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD Issued 25 November 1993 Typeset by Ann Buchan (Typesetters), Middlesex Printed in Great Britain at The Alden Press. Oxford , Bull. nat. Hist. Mus. Lond. (Bot.) 23(2): 55-59 Issued 25 November 1993 New taxa of Gentiana (Gentianaceae) from Western China and the Himalayan region - 3 DEC 1993 TING-NUNG HO AND SHANG-WU LIU PRISENTiO Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Academia Sinica, Xining, Qinghai, China GENERAL LIBRAR Synopsis. Eleven new species* and two new varieties from Western China and the Himalayan region are described. They are G. leucantha H. Smith, G. chateriT. N. Ho, G. hicksii H. Smith, G. masoniiT. N. Ho, G. zekuensis T . N. Ho et S. W. Liu, G. laxiflora T. N. Ho, G. depressa var. stenophylla T. N. Ho, G. bryophylla H. Smith, G. micans var. latifolia T. N. Ho, G. glabriuscula H. Smith, G. winchuanensis T. N. Ho, G. shaanxiensis T. N. Ho and G. subuliformis S.W. Liu. The following three new names are also made: G. himalayaensis T. N. Ho, G. a/a/a T. N. Ho and G. taiwanica T. N. Ho. *Among them three species were diagnosed, described and typified and one species labelled by Harry Smith but were left unpublished at his death in 197L NEW TAXA Ludlow, Sherriff & Elliot 14273 (BM, E). NE Bhutan: Me la, 4420 m, 5 August 1933 Ludlow & Sherriff 415 (BM); ibid. 4270 m, 26 August 1949, Ludlow, Sherriff & Hicks 21104 (BM, E, K); I. Gentiana leucantha H. Smith, sp. nov. (Sect. Otophora Ju la, Mangde chu, 19 July 1949, Ludlow, Sherriff & Hicks 16886 Kusn.) (BM,E). Species Gentiana decoratae Diels et Gentiana infelici C. B. Clarke affinis, sed a prima tubo corollae lobis multo longiore 2. Gentiana chateri T. N. Ho, sp. nov. (Sect. Otophora (nee subaequilongo), a secunda flore duplo majore, ab ambo- Kusn.) flore albo (in sicco lutescenti) bene differt. bus Species ob folia rosularia linearia et corollam albam usque flavescentem Gentiana damyonensi Marquand et Gentiana Planta perennis, omnino glabra, e coUo radicem principalem hicksii H. Smith similis, sed a prima corolla epunctata, lobis carnosulam, fusiformem et caules floriferos numerosos tubo brevioribus, foliis caulinis ovato-lanceolatis, a secunda edens. Caules floriferi perennes, assurgentes, breves, dense corolla minore, 18-20 mm longa, ab ambobus floribus 3^ in parvifoliati. Folia rosularia decunt, caulina sessilia, interno- cymam laxam dispositis, lobis calycis irregularibus, oblan- diis multo longiora, ovata, 3.5-4 mm longa, 1.8-2 mm lata, ceolatis et spathulatis, basi contractis recedit. apice acuta, submucronata, margine cartilagineo- microscabridula. Flores solitarii, terminales, erecti, sessiles; Herba perennis, 3-4 cm alta, e collo radicem principalem, tubus calycis campanulatus, 5-6 longus, lobis ellipticis, mm caules floriferos et rosulem basalem emittens. Radix carno- 3-3.5 longis, c. 2 latis, apice acuminatis, mucronatis; mm mm sula, verticalis, fusiformis, 4—6 mm diam. Caules floriferi 1^, corolla alba (in sicco lutescens), calyce triple vel ultra lon- ascendenti-erecti, glabri. Folia rosularia linearia vel lineari- gior, tubo subcylindrico, 13-15 mm longo, lobis ovatis, oblonga, 8-22 mm longa et 2-4 mm lata, apice acuta vel 4-5 longis, fere 4 latis, obtusis, plicae lobis later- mm mm obtusa, basi attenuata, nervis 1-3, subtus prominentibus, aliter adnatae, c. 2.5 mm longae et 1.5 mm latae, bifidae, petiolis c. 2 mm longis; ilia caulina 2-3-juga, remota, ovato- laciniatae vel fere integrae subtruncataeque; stamina tubo lanceolata, 7-18 mm longa et 3-7 mm lata, apice acuta, basi corollae c. 7 alte affixa, ex ore corollae exserta, filamen- mm breviter petiolata. Flores saepe 3^ in cymam laxam dispositi, tis filiformibus, 6-8 longis, antheris linearibus, vix 2 mm mm raro solitarii; pedicelli 4-5 mm longi; calyx 7-9 mm longus, ellipticum, 8-10 longum, apice in stylum longis; ovarium mm tubo tubuloso, lobis irregularibus, obovatis et lineari- c. 1 longum attenuatum, stipite c. 2 mm longo. Capsula mm spathulatis, 3-4 mm longis et 0.5-1.5 mm latis, apice acutis c. brunnea, oblonga, 1.1 X inclusa, 11 mm longa; semina vel obtusis, basi contractis; corolla alba (flavescens in sicco), 0.4 mm magna, tenuiter reiculata. atrocaeruleo-striata, tubulosa, 18-20 mm longa, lobis tubo brevioribus, oblongis, 6-7 mm longis, acutis, plicae obliquae, China : S Tibet : Tsari , Karkyn la , on open grassy hillside , 4420 m auriculatae, lobis lateraliter adnatae; stamina tubo corollae 24 June 1936, Ludlow & Sherriff2209 (BM); ibid, on mossy open inferioris inserta, filamentis subulatis, c. 10 mm longis, ad hillside, 4000-4270 m, 11 October 1938, Ludlow, Sheriff & basin breviter ampliatis, antheris luteis, c. 1 mm longis; Taylor 6592 (BM); Chayul chu, Kashong la, 4420 m, 14 July ovarium lineare, c. 15 mm longum, stylo c. 5 mm longo, 1936, Ludlow & Sherriff 2356 (BM); SE Tibet: Langgong, 28°45' stigmatibus linearibus, recurvatis. N 94°E, on open grassy hillside, 4420 m, 5 June 1938, Ludlow, E); Kongbo, Kusha la near Paka, Sherriff & Taylor 3963 (BM, Nepal: Iswa Khola, 4000 m, 8 August 1971, L. W. Beer, C. R. 29°15' 94°2' 4270-4570 m, 25 July 1938, Ludlow, Sherriff & N E, Lancaster & D. Morris 9545 (BM), Kasuwa khola, 4000 m, 23 Taylor (BM-holotype); ibid, on open grassy meadows, 4270 5934 August 1975, L. W. Beer 25363 (BM-holotype). m,' 27 July 1938, Ludlow, Sherriff & Taylor 5951 (BM, E); ibid. Deyang la, on stony grassy slopes, 4115 m, 8 August 1947, We take particular pleasure in naming this species after Mr ©The Natural History Museum, 1993 T -N. HO AND S -W. LIU 56 Arthur O. Chater, former curator of the flowering plant 5. Gentiana zekuensis T. N. Ho & S. W. Liu, sp. nov. (Sect. herbarium, The Natural History Museum, who worked for Cruciata Gaudin) Fig. 2. H. Smith valde similis, sed some years on the Nepalese Flora. Species habitu Gentiana officinali tubo calycis obtuso (nee truncate), lobis filiformibus, usque 1-1.5 longis), 3. Gentiana hicksii H. Smith, sp. nov. (Sect. Otophora ad 5 mm longis (nee dentiformibus, mm corolla Kusn.) flavida, caeruleo-punctata, versus limbum caerulea, raro Species Gentiana damyonensi Marquand affinis, sed corolla corolla omnino caerulea (nee omnino flavida) differt. majore, 25-35 mm longa, tubo lobis longiore (nee breviore) differt. Herba perennis, 15-40 cm alta. Radices subcarnosae, pau- cae, in radicem verticalem, cylindricam conniventes. Caules alta, e collo radicem principalem, Herba perennis, c. 8 cm floriferi 3-10, ascendentes, caudice reliquis petiolorum bru- basalem emittens. Radix carno- caules floriferos et rosulam neis, fibrosis obtecto. Folia rosularia anguste elliptica vel 3-5 diam. Caules floriferi 1-3, sula, verticalis, fusiformis, mm lineari-lanceolata, 8-22.5 cm longa et 0.5-2.5 cm lata, apice Folia rosularia linearia vel ascendenti-erecti, glabri. acuta, basi attenuata, utrinque glabra, nervis 3-5, subtus lanceolato-linearia, 3-4 longa et 2-3.5 mm lata; ilia mm prominentibus; ilia caulina 2-3-juga, elliptica vel lanceolata, internodiis breviora vel interdum sub- caulina 3-4-juga, 1.8-5.5 cm longa et 0.6-1.2 cm lata, apice acuta, basi in lanceolato-linearia, 0.7-1.2 cm longa, acuta, ses- aequilonga, vaginam 0.8-3 cm longam connata, eis summis bractescenti- solitarii, terminales; calyx 7-9 mm longus, silia. Flores saepe bus, lanceolatis usque lineari-lanceolatis, 1.2-5 cm longis et tubo obconico, lobis subregularibus, linearibus; corolla alba, 0.5-1 cm latis, acuminatis. Flores sessiles, numerosi, termina- coeruleo-striata, cylindrico-obconica, 25-35 mm longa, tubo les axillaresque; calyx fissus fere ad basin, 6-13 mm longus, lobis ovatis, 8-9 longis et 5 mm latis, c. 19 mm longo, mm tubo spathaceo, apice obtuso, lobis filiformibus, usque 5 mm plicae dentiformes, latere lobi adnata; stamina tubo obtusis, longis; corolla flavida, caeruleo-punctata, versus limbum filamentis 13-15 longis, antheris c. 6 mm alte affixa, mm caerulea, raro corollla omnino caerulea, tubulosa, lS-20 mm angustis, vix 2 longis; ovarium lanceolatum, c. 15 mm mm longa, lobis ovatis, 2.5-3 mm longis, acutis, plicae obliquo- longum, apice in stylum c. 4 mm longum attenuatum, stipite triangulatae, c. 1 mm longae, acuminatae; stamina tubo 2-3 longo.