TWO NEW BERBERIS SECTION WALLICHIANAE FROM WESTERN CHINA 730. BERBERIS YINGJINGENSIS Berberidaceae Julian Harber Summary. The evergreen Berberis yingjingensis D. F. Chamb. & Harber from Sichuan, is described and is illustrated. Its habitat in the wild and the circumstances of its collection are described. Cultivation notes are given. A second new species, Berberis wuchuanensis Harber and S. Z. He is described from Guizhou. Berberis is the largest genus within the family Berberidaceae with two main centres of diversity Eurasia (mainly the Himalayas and China) and Latin America; two species are found in North America, four in Africa, none in Australasia. The most recent account of the whole genus (Ahrendt, 1961) recognised 467 species but subsequent studies (e.g. Landrum, 1999) suggest a lower number. The section Wallichianae was proposed by Schneider (1905) and as delineated by Ahrendt (op. cit.) has not been subsequently disputed. It consists of evergreen species with coriaceous leaves with solitary or fascicled flowers which with two exceptions (Berberis bicolor H. Lév. and Berberis sanguinea Franch.) are recorded as being always yellow or greenish yellow. Chamberlain & Hu (1985) recognised 75 species in the section with 62 being found in China. The Flora of China (Ying, 2001; 2011) which does not divide the genus into sections, lists 78 species that are consistent with section Wallichianae. My current count of the number in China (including the new species below) is 75. The most familiar Berberis in section Wallichianae in cultivation are B. gagnepainii C.K. Schneid. and B. julianae C.K. Schneid., though most plants that are named as such are probably hybrids. In 2003, I first noticed plants in the Berberis Dell at Kew that I did not immediately recognise. Originally these had been called Berberis aff. sanguinea, on account of their narrow leaves, but they clearly did not otherwise conform to that species. Subsequently I found a note in the Kew living plants database, dated 1993 that originated from David Chamberlain of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh that suggested that it could be a new species, but that it should be compared with B. panlanensis Ahrendt. This taxon however has proved to be an obscure Curtis s Botanical Magazine 2012 vol. 29 (2): pp. 112 121 112 The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012.
Plate 730 Berberis yingjingensis christabel king
synonym of B. sanguinea. After consultation, David and I decided to treat the Kew plants as a new species that we call B. yingjingensis. Berberis yingjingensis probably has closest affinities with B. lubrica C.K. Schneid., with which it shares lustrous leaves. It can however be distinguished from that species, inter alia, by its longer and narrower leaves and its fewer, somewhat larger flowers. Apart from its greenish-yellow flowers, the most striking feature of this species is that it has very long, narrowly lanceolate, shiny leaves. Other species with similarly long and narrow leaves include B. insolita C.K. Schneid., and B. gagnepainii but both species differ in that the lamina is less leathery and is dull on the adaxial surface. The former also differs in that it has only one or two ovules; the latter in the flowers with three whorls of sepals and four or five ovules. Berberis yingjingensis is known only from the type and one other collection. The type was gathered from a shrub growing on sandy soil and reaching out from under shade in an open valley of dense secondary shrubs on a limestone mountainside. The description of flowers is from a living plant at Kew grown from seeds of the type. The other collection is a living plant at Sherwood Garden, Devon, grown from J. Compton, J. d Arcy & E. M. Rix 2497, west central Sichuan, Hanyuan Pass above Shimian, 1830 m, October 5, 1995. The seed was from a plant growing amongst Euonymus quinquecornutus, Daphne acutiloba and Niellia thibetica (James Compton, pers. comm.). Cultivation. Berberis yingjingensis has grown well in the Berberis Dell at Kew since being planted in 1992 and in shade in wet woodland in Devon for about 10 years, forming graceful arching shrubs around 2 m tall; the leaves are striking for their length and shine; the flowers and fruit are inconspicuous. Propagation from cuttings is not difficult. Propagation from seed is even easier, but if grown with other Berberis species - even deciduous ones - is likely to produce hybrids (for the issue of hybridisation in cultivated Berberis see Harber, 2010). Berberis yingjingensis D. F. Chamb. & J. Harber, sp. nov. This species is similar to Berberis lubrica but may be distinguished from it (among other characters), by its longer, narrower leaves and fewer, larger flowers; whereas it is similar to some forms of B. insolita and B. gagnepainii in leaf length, it differs in having leaves shiny above; and from B. gagnepainii in having the sepals in 2 (not 3) whorls. Type: China, west Sichuan: Yingjing Xian, Niba Shan, north side, September 28, 1988, C. Erskine, H. Fliegner, C. Howick & W. McNamara, SICH 255 (holotype designated here K 000395201!). The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012. 115
Fig. 1. Berberis yingjingensis. A, leaf axil with thorns and buds, 6; B, axil with full-sized thorns, 1; C, leaf margin, 4; D. bud scale, 10; E, base of peduncle and bract, 10; F, flower, exterior view, 4; G, bractlet (1 only), 6; H, exterior sepal (1 of 3 similar), 6; K, exterior sepal (1 of 3 similar), 6; L, exterior petal (1 of 3 similar), 6; M, interior petal (1 of 3 similar), 6; N, detail of base of petal, (M) with nectaries, 10; P, t/s petal (N), through nectaries, 10; Q, innermost petal, (1 of 3 similar), 6; R, stamen from (Q), adaxial view, 8; S, ovary, 8; T, l/s ovary, 8; U, t/s mature fruit, 4; V, seed, 4. Drawn by Christabel King from C.D. & R 2497, cultivated in Devon. 116 The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012.
Chinese name yingjing xiao bo Description. Evergreen shrub to 2 m tall, narrowly erect. Branches arching at apex, grey, terete; mature stems very pale yellow-grey, sulcate, sparsely black verruculose; young shoots green; spines 3-fid, pale yellow-brown, weak, 0.5 2 cm, terete. Petiole almost absent; leaf blade abaxially shiny, pale green, adaxially shiny, mid-green, very narrowly lanceolate, 4.5 12 ( 18) 0.8 1.5 ( 2.5) cm, thinly leathery, abaxially not pruinose, midvein raised abaxially, obviously impressed adaxially, lateral veins very indistinct abaxially, 10 18 pairs, indistinct adaxially, base attenuate, margin 15 30-spinose-serrate on each side, apex acute, aristate. Inflorescence a fascicle, 2 5-flowered. Flowers pale greenish yellow; bracts yellow with reddish tinge, triangular, ca. 2 1 mm. Pedicel reddish, 7 13 mm; bractlets mostly reddish, ovate, ca. 3.5 2 mm, apex acute. Sepals in two whorls; outer sepals with vertical reddish stripe, oblong-elliptic, ca. 5 3.5 mm, apex rounded; inner sepals broadly elliptic, ca. 7 5 mm, apex obtuse. Petals elliptic, ca. 4 3 mm, base slightly clawed with approximate elliptic glands, apex entire. Stamens ca. 3 mm; anther connective truncate. Ovules (1 ) 3 or 4. Berry dark blue-black, slightly pruinose, obovoidellipsoid, 8 10 5 7 mm; style persistent, short. Seeds 1 4, purplish black, ca. 6 2 mm. (See fig. 1). Distribution. China, WC Sichuan, Yingjing Xian and the border between Hanyuan and Shimian Xian. Habitat. Among dense shrubs, in secondary woodland after the original forest has been cleared; ca. 1800 m. Phenology. Flowering time unknown in the wild; in cultivation from March to early summer. Fruiting recorded in the wild, September to October; in cultivation fruits persist well into following year. BERBERIS WUCHUANENSIS While studying the Berberis collections in the Beijing Herbarium [PE] in 2007, I (J.H.) briefly looked at two specimens from Guizhou, (fig. 3), identified as B. insolita, a species from south Sichuan, referred to above in connection with B. yingjingensis. On my return I studied images of these and concluded these were something else. I then arranged for the specimens to be loaned to the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and looked at them more closely. This convinced me they were indeed a new species. However I decided there was not enough evidence for publication (one specimen has immature fruit, the other is sterile). I then contacted Shun-zhi He of the Guizhou Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guiyang who I had met when I was in Guizhou in 2008 and asked if he had any more information about what is a most unusual Berberis. Tomy The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012. 117
Fig. 2. Berberis wuchuanensis. Above: habit in the wild; below: detail of flowers. Photograph: S. Z. He. 118 The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012.
Fig. 3. Berberis wuchuanensis. Type specimen: China, north Guizhou, Wuchuan Xian, Jushishan, 800 1100 m, May 3, 2004, S. Z. He 0405035 (GZTM). delight he replied that not only had he collected this in 2004, but he had photographs of it in the field (Fig. 2). He then provided the information about the flower structure and was happy that it should be a joint publication. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012. 119
Berberis wuchuanensis HarberandS.Z.He,sp. nov. Type: China, north Guizhou, Wuchuan Xian, Jushishan, 800 1100 m, May 3, 2004, S. Z. He 0405035 (holotype designated here, GZTM!, isotype GZTM!). Similar to Berberis insolita, but differsinter alia by having dark brown mature stems, longer and more numerous pedicels and two to three ovules. The leaves are linear lanceolate rather than linear-oblong, somewhat wider with lateral veins almost absent. The leaves somewhat similar to Berberis triacanthophora but much longer. While this species in some respects resembles B. yinjingensis, it may be distinguished by its linear-lanceolate leaves and dark brown mature stems Chinese name wuchuan xiao bo Description. Shrubs, evergreen, ca. 2 m tall. Branches grey; mature stems dark reddish brown, terete, spines 3-fid, pale yellow, 0.3 1.5 cm weak. Petiole almost absent or to 5 mm; leaf blade abaxially pale yellowish green, adaxially mid-green, slightly shiny, linear-lanceolate, (3.5 ) 6 10.5 (0.2 )0.4 0.8 cm, thinly leathery, adaxially not pruinose, midvein conspicuously raised abaxially, conspicuously impressed adaxially, lateral veins absent abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, base attenuate, margin 1 10 weakly spinose-serrulate each side or entire, apex acuminate. Inflorescence a fascicle, 2 20-flowered, flowers pale yellow, sometimes with partial pinkish blush on outer sepals, pedicel, yellow or pale pink, 10 14 mm, glabrous, bractlets triangular-ovate, ca. 1.5 1.2 mm, apex acute. Sepals in two whorls; outer sepals elliptic, ca. 3.5 2.5 mm, apex rounded; inner sepals broadly elliptic. ca. 5 3.5 mm, apex rounded; petals obovate, ca. 3.5 3 mm, base slightly clawed with approximate elliptic glands, apex convex; stamens ca. 3 mm, anther connective truncate; ovules (2 ) 3; Immature berry dark blue, slightly pruinose, ellipsoid or oval, 4 6 3 4 mm; style not persistent. Distribution. China: north Guizhou, from Dejiang, Wuchuan and Zheng an Xian. Habitat. Thickets in scrub on mountain slopes at ca. 800 1100 m. Phenology. Known to flower in May and produce immature fruit in August. Selected specimens. Guizhou: Dejiang Xian, Yanmenkou, 1000 m, August 15, 1959, Guizhou Team 1723 (PE 01037178); Zheng an Xian, Luoyuan, Nov. 1971, sine coll. 71324 (PE 01031092). REFERENCES Ahrendt, L.W.A. (1961). Berberis and Mahonia. A taxonomic revision. Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 57: 1 410. Chamberlain, D.F. & Hu, C.M. (1985). A synopsis of Berberis section Wallichianae. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 42(3): 529 557. Harber, J. (2010). Getting to grips with Berberis. The Plantsman 9(Part 2): 106 113. Landrum, L.R. (1999). Revision of Berberis (Berberidaceae) in Chile and adjacent Southern Argentina. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 793 834. 120 The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012.
Schneider, C.K. (1905). Die Gattung Berberis (Euberberis). Bulletin de l Herbier Boissier, Série 2, 5: 133 148, 391 403, 449 464. Ying, T.S. (2001). Berberis. Flora Republicae Popularis Sinicae. Vol. 29. Science Press, Beijing. pp. 54 214. Ying, T.S. (2011). Berberis. In: Wu, Z.Y., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D.Y. (eds) Flora of China. Vol. 19. Science Press, Beijing and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis. pp. 715 770. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2012. 121