Michelia viridipetala sp. nov. (Magnoliaceae) from Yunnan, China

Abstract

new species of M. sect. Micheliopsis (Magnoliaceae) from Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. Notes are also presented on the pollen morphology, phenology, ecology and conservation status of the new species. The new species was found growing in the evergreen broad-leaved forest at altitudes of 1500Á1650 m a.s.l. in Faduo Xiang, Xichou County, Yunnan Province, China. It is closely related to M. figo Sprengel, but differs in its higher habit (up to 15 m), densely brown villose indumentum with straight hairs, larger narrowly elliptic or elliptic leaves (12Á29.5 )4.0Á8.5 cm), abaxially pale green outer 3 tepals, densely pubescent ellipsoidÁovoid gynoecia, and 2Á3 ovulate carpels.

Editorial

“…However, Asiatic vascular plant taxonomy has been a major topic also in previous issues of Nordic Journal of Botany and in the last three volumes no less than 81 articles within this area have been published. The largest country in the region, both in terms of geography and ongoing research is undoubtedly China and naturally enough this is also reflected in the number of published articles (Häkkinen and Wang 2008a,b, Jin et al 2008, 2009a,b, Yi et al 2008, Zhang et al 2008, 2009, Bi et al 2009, 2010,Chen et al 2009a, 2009b, 2010, Dong et al 2009a,b, Jin 2009, Liu et al 2009, Yang et al 2009, Xia and Li 2009, Weng et al 2009, Cong et al 2010, Guo et al 2010, He et al 2010, Xu et al 2010, Wang et al 2010, Wei and Wang 2010). Second largest is India with 11 recent contributions (Banik and Sanjappa 2008, Baruah and Nath 2008, Raole and Desai 2008, Viswanathan and Manikandan 2009, Kandwal and Gupta 2010, Karthigeyan et al 2010a,b, Pusalkar and Singh 2010, Sujanapal and Sasidharan 2010, Tandyekkal and Mohanan 2010, Yadav et al 2010), but we have also published numerous significant contributions to our knowledge of the plant biodiversity of southeastern‐most Asia, i.e.…”

“…Several of these contributions deal with genera and families well known to be unique and characteristic components of the Asiatic flora. Thus, in the last three issues, four new taxa of bamboos have been described (Zhang et al 2008, Guo et al 2010, Trân et al 2010, Zhang and Li 2010), five new taxa of Magnolia and closely related genera (Yi et al 2008, Dong et al 2009b, Liao and Xia 2009, Liu et al 2009, Vu and Xia 2010), three new Rhodondron taxa (Jin et al 2009a,b, Chen et al 2010) and three new species of Zingiberaceae (Ngamriabsakul 2008, Li et al 2009, Sujanapal and Sasidharan 2010). It is also noteworthy that no less than six new taxa of the genus Impatiens have been discovered (Jin et al 2008, Bi et al 2009, 2010, Dong et al 2009a, Cong et al 2010).…”

The evolution of a new scene for botanical publication from the Nordic countries

“…It is therefore most encouraging to see that almost 100 new taxa from throughout the world was published in 2008. Most novelties are vascular plants from Turkey (Aksoy et al 2008, Dogan et al 2008, Dönmez 2008, Eker and Koyuncu 2008, Gemici et al 2008, Ilçim 2008, Ilçim et al 2008, Teksen and Aytaç 2008, Uysal 2008, Yaprak and Yurdakulol 2008, Zielinski and Tomaszewski, 2008), Iran (Hamdi et al 2008, Pakravan 2008, Khosravi and Poormahdi 2008, Ranjbar et al 2008), India (Baruah and Nath 2008, Raole and Desai 2008), China (Cong et al 2008, Gao and Zhang 2008, Häkkinen and Wang 2008, Jiang and Liu 2008, Jin et al 2008, Li and Wang 2008, Lidén and Van De Veire 2008, Qiao and Zhang 2008, Shi et al 2008b, Song et al 2008, Tian et al 2008, Wang et al 2008, Wei et al 2008, Xiang and Peng 2008, Xiang et al 2008, Yi et al 2008, Zhang and Li 2008, Zhang et al 2008a,b,c, Zhou et al 2008a) and south east Asia (Ngamriabsakul 2008, Turner and Saunders 2008), demonstrating the botanical richness and the great need for basic taxonomic research in these regions. For example, in one single paper, Vermeulen (2008) described 38 new species of the orchid genus Bulbophyllum from New Guinea alone.…”