Open AccessA new species of Galearis (Orchidinae: Orchidaceae) from Sichuan, China
Author(s) -
MENG QIANWAN,
LUO YIBO
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00875.x
Subject(s) - iucn red list , critically endangered , biology , orchidaceae , type locality , endangered species , china , conservation status , botany , near threatened species , population , ecology , taxonomy (biology) , geography , demography , archaeology , sociology , habitat
A new species, Galearis huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo, is described and illustrated. It is similar to Galearis cyclochila (Franch. & Sav.) Soó and Galearis diantha (Schltr.) P.F.Hunt, but differs in having a short spur, two elliptical lateral stigma lobes and distinctly separated bursicles. This new species is known only from the type locality, the Huanglong Valley, Songpan County, western Sichuan, China, growing amongst mosses under alpine shrubs at an elevation of about 3000 m. Based on two years of observations of its population size, the species was categorized as critically endangered CR (B1a, B2a) according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria , Version 3.1. The micromorphology of pollinia and seeds was observed by scanning electron microscopy and compared with that of G. cyclochila and G. diantha . The results supported G. huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo as a new species. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 158 , 689–695.