Ailaoshan loosestrife (Lysimachia ailaoshanensis), a new member of subgenus Palladia, section Chenopodiopsis

NEWS - A new species of Ailaoshan loosestrife (Lysimachia ailaoshanensis) related to subgen. Palladia sect. Chenopodiopsis and most similar to L. chenopodioides and L. remotiflora, but distinguished by narrower lanceolate leaf blades, longer petioles, narrower stamens and longer pistils.

L. ailaoshanensis was collected by Hai-Fei Yan of the South China Botanical Garden and colleagues at Mount Ailao, Yunnan, in August 2020. Subsequent field visits were conducted to confirm its presence and examination to describe and compare with all other Lysimachia species.

Based on the classification of Lysimachia by Handel-Mazzetti (1928), the new species is characterized by alternate leaves, racemes with sparse or solitary flowers in the upper leaf axils, free filaments, attached in the middle of the corolla, and pedicels usually shorter than the corolla.

About 8 species are known in southwest China and adjacent areas including Bhutan, India, Kashmir, northern Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and some outliers in Thailand, the Mediterranean coast and southeast Africa. The new species is only known from the type site in Yunnan Province, Jingdong Yi Autonomous County and grows on the edge of mixed-evergreen secondary forest.

Investigations over the past three years, only one population with five individuals was found in an area of 10 km2 in Jingdong Yi Autonomous County. In addition, the local habitat is threatened by road construction and tourism development. The researchers propose the status of Critically Endangered (CR) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria guidelines (IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee 2024).

Original research

Yan H-F, Hao G (2024). Lysimachia ailaoshanensis (Primulaceae), a new species from Yunnan, China. PhytoKeys 246: 277-282, DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.246.130838

Dlium theDlium

Blood lily (Scadoxus multiflorus)

Blood lily or Haemanthus multiflorus ( Scadoxus multiflorus ) is a species of plant in the Amaryllidaceae, a bulbous shrub that produces rhizomes. Leaves and flowers may appear together or leaves may be produced later. The base of the leaves and stems are tightly wrapped to form a pseudo-stem or false stem, 5-60 cm long. Flowers in umbels at the top of the stem, leafless, 12-75 cm long. Pseudostems and scapes are often covered with reddish brown to dark purple spots. The flower umbel is in the shape of a globe with 10-200 individual flowers. Each flower has a stalk, 15-45 mm long. The tepals and filaments of the stamens are red. The base of the tepals is fused to form a cylindrical tube, 4-26 mm long, the free end of the tepals 12-32 mm long, narrow and spreading. The fruit is a berry having a diameter of 5-10 mm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Amaryllidaceae Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae Tribe: Haemantheae Ge...

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...

Indian shot (Canna indica)

Puspa midra or Indian shot ( Canna indica ) is is plant species in Cannaceae, annual, shrub 0.5-2.5 meters high, depending on variety, erect stems, unbranched and leaf midrib arranged overlapping to form pseudostems and hermaphrodite flowers. C. indica forms a branched rhizome, 60 cm long which is divided into rounded segments and is covered in two stripes by pale green or purple scaly leaves. The rhizome has tubers that contain very large starch grains. The surface has transverse furrows, the underside appears white roots and numerous shoots. The leaves sit alternate and spiral or arranged in two rows, very large and divided into a leaf midrib, short stalk and blade. The strands are 30-60 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and have linear veins, green or purple-green, the base blunt or narrowly pointed and the apex immediately tapering or sharp. Hermaphrodite flowers, pedicels 0.2-1 cm long and red or yellow-orange, except in some cultivars 4.5-7.5 cm long. The sepals are triangular in shape a...

Dlium