Jiangyou gentian (Metagentiana jiangyouensis) growing on cliff at elevation of 1160-1513 meters

NEWS - Jiangyou gentian (Metagentiana jiangyouensis) in Gentianaceae is known only from the type locality in Hanzeng Town, Jiangyou, Mianyang, Sichuan, China, growing on a cliff at an elevation of 1160-1513 m, flowering and fruiting from December to April with the local name jiang you xia rui long (江油狭蕊龙胆).

Metagentiana T.N.Ho & S.W.Liu was separated from Gentiana L. based on morphology and cytology which included 14 species. The genus is monophyletic when excluding two yellow-flowered species, M. souliei (Franch.) T.N.Ho, S.W.Liu & Shi L.Chen and M. striata (Maxim.) T.N.Ho, S.W.Liu & Shi L.Chen which were transferred to the new genus Sinogentiana Adr.Favre & Y.M.Yuan.

Morphological and molecular evidence suggests that Metagentiana is closely related to Sinogentiana, Tripterospermum Blume and Crawfurdia Wall. Metagentiana contains 12 species of which 9 are in southwest China, one is widespread in northwest and central China, one is distributed in eastern Myanmar and one is endemic to Thailand.

M. jiangyouensis is similar to M. villifera and M. rhodantha in perennial habit, presence of basal rosette, leaves and flowers. These three are the only Chinese species of the genus to have a basal rosette and can therefore be easily distinguished from all other Chinese species.

M. jiangyouensis differs from these two in that it is entirely glabrous, the calyx lobes are angular to lanceolate 1.3-2(-3) mm long, the corolla tube has dark purple spots and the margins of the plicae are not fringed. The basal rosette and vegetative shoots are short and well developed.

M. villifera and M. rhodantha sometimes have basal rosette leaves or vegetative shoots, but these are usually poorly developed or the vegetative shoots will grow into longer stems later. The other species are annuals or biennials without rosettes.

M. jiangyouensis differs from M. rhodantha also by seeds with narrow wings along the edge (vs. M. rhodantha with broad wings). M. jiangyouensis and M. villifera grow on rock surfaces (vs. M. rhodantha grows in grasslands, alpine shrubs, forests and on rocks).

M. jiangyouensis grows in Jiangyou at elevations of 1160-1513 meters (vs. M. villifera in Junlian or more than 420 km from Jiangyou at elevations of 800 meters; M. rhodantha is widespread in southwest, northwest, central and southern China at elevations of 500-1800 meters). Flowering and fruiting phase of M. jiangyouensis December-April, (vs. M. villifera April-June; M. rhodantha October-February).

Original research

Cao H-F, Cai J, Zou Y, Sun H, Li F-F, Xiong A-d, Xu M-J (2024) Metagentiana jiangyouensis, a new species of Metagentiana (Gentianaceae) from Sichuan, China. PhytoKeys 247: 137-144, DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.247.129934

Dlium theDlium

Java milkwort (Polygala javana)

Java milkwort ( Polygala javana ) is a species of plant in the Polygalaceae family. It has erect, woody, branched stems with brown to black stems and white hairs or powdery hairs. The leaves are opposite and alternate. The leaves are oval, up to 30 mm long and up to 9 mm wide, and green. The inflorescences are arranged in panicles, arranged in rows and radially. The flowers are butterfly-shaped, yellow, green, and purple, with white hairs, up to 8 mm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Polygalaceae Tribe: Polygaleae Genus: Polygala Tourn. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 701 (1753) Species: Polygala javana DC. in Prodr. 1: 327 (1824) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Polygala ceylanica B.Heyne ex Wall. in Numer. List: n.° 4183 (1831) Polygala javana var. angustifolia Thwaites in Enum. Pl. Zeyl.: 22 (1864) Polygala raoi R.N.Banerjee & L.K.Banerjee in Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., B 82: 218 (1975) PUBLICATIONS Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H....

Black jumping spider (Hyllus diardi)

Black jumping spider ( Hyllus diardi ) is an animal species in the Salticidae, black and white spiders, long hair, round head, elongated belly, relatively small, arboreal, perched on leaves in bushes and low trees in forests and agricultural lands. H. diardi has black and white color, shiny surface and white hair all over the body. The head is round, shiny black with a linear white line in the middle. Black eyes on the front of the head. The stomach has an elongated, jointed, black cylindrical shape with black plots at the top of each segment. The legs are long, segmented, shiny black or brownish in color and hairy. Black jumping spiders live arboreal, perch on leaf surfaces, low bushes, trees in forests, agricultural land, roadsides and shade. Very sensitive to human presence and will hide behind leaves to avoid sight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Suborder: Araneomorphae Infraorder: Entelegynae Superfamily: Salticoi...

Cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus)

Remujung atau kumis kucing atau cat's whiskers ( Orthosiphon aristatus ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae, an erect herb, the lower part is rooted at the joints, 2 meters high, the stem has four corners and is somewhat grooved with short hair or bald, has joints where branches grow to the left and right and is dark purple. O. aristatus has round or oval, lanceolate, round-ovate or rhombic leaves starting from the base, 1-10 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, 4-29 cm long stalks and a main vein in the middle, leaf stalk length 7-29 cm. Glandular flower petals, veins and bases are short and sparsely hairy, while the uppermost part is bald. The terminal crown is a bunch that comes out of the end of the branch with a length of 7-29 cm. Length 13-27mm, covered with short purple hairs on the top and then turning white, tube length 10-18 mm, lip length 4.5-10mm, blunt flower strands, round. Stamens are longer than flower tubes and exceed the upper lip of the flower. Dark brown fruit, 1.75-...

Dlium