Paraphlomis kuankuoshuiensis (Lamiaceae), a new species from the limestone areas of northern Guizhou, China

Abstract Paraphlomis kuankuoshuiensis (Lamiaceae), a new species found in the limestone areas of northern Guizhou, China, is described and illustrated in this paper. Based on its tubular-campanulate calyx, this taxon should be a member of sect. Paraphlomis Prain. The new species resembles P. patentisetulosa C.Y. Wu & H. W. Li, P. hispida C.Y. Wu, and P. hirsutissima C.Y. Wu & H.W. Li, but differs from these three taxa in the following aspects: the stems are very short (<7 cm), with one or two short internodes, giving the impression of having a tuft of basal leaves; it has sparsely setose hairs on the outer surface of the calyces and short fruiting calyces. The florescence, fruit period, habitat, and the geographical distribution of P. kuankuoshuiensis are also quite different from the three closely related species.


Introduction
Paraphlomis (Prain) Prain is a genus of about 24 species in Lamiaceae (Ko et al. 2014), of which 23 Paraphlomis species and seven varieties were recorded from China (China Botanical Flora Editorial Committee 1977, Li and Hedge 1994, Xiang et al. 2010). The genus is characterized by erect galeate corollas with longer upper lips than lower lips; rounded and bearded upper corolla lips, five-toothed calyces, and two-cleft, subequal style apices (Ko et al. 2014).
Paraphlomis was separated from Phlomis by Prain in 1901 (Azizian and Moore 1982) and was supported as an independent genus (Pan et al. 2009). Scheen et al. (2010) placed the genus Paraphlomis in the tribe Lamioideae and they suggested that its phylogenetic position is uncertain although their analyses do place two accessions of Paraphlomis in the vicinity of Phlomis. Based on the DNA sequence data from chloroplast regions, Bendiksby et al. (2011)  However, the new species differs from these three taxa in a variety of ways. For instance, it has very short stems (< 7 cm), with one or two short internodes, giving the impression of having a tuft of basal leaves; it has sparsely setose hairs on the outer surface of the calyx and short fruiting calyces. Morphological characteristics indicate that this species differs from the above mentioned Paraphlomis species and should be considered a new species in this genus.

Materials and methods
All morphological characteristics were measured using dissecting microscopes. The flowering and fruiting specimens of the potential new species were checked at ZY (Thiers 2019). Three specimens of P. patentisetulosa were observed at IBSC and their collecting numbers were 37835 (Type), 163476, and 12441. One specimen of P. hispida (92449) was observed at IBK. The following traits (some of them not described in "Flora of China") were carefully surveyed: indumentum, length of the corolla, shape and length of the bracteoles, (fruiting) calyx tubes and teeth, and nutlets (92449 has no nutlet).
Digital specimens, including 33 taxa belonging to 19 Paraphlomis species (Table  S1)  Diagnosis. Paraphlomis kuankuoshuiensis can be distinguished from the morphologically similar species P. patentisetulosa, P. hispida, and P. hirsutissima by its very short stem (< 7 cm) with one or two short internodes (giving the impression of having a tuft of basal leaves). The three closely related species have stems longer than 15 cm and more internodes. The new species has sparsely setose hairs on the outer surface of the calyces (vs. finely or densely) and short fruiting calyces (5-6 cm vs. 7 cm, 8-9 cm, and to 11 cm). There are some other diagnostic characters between the new species and its three closely related species (Table 1). The flowering from July to August and fruiting from August to September are quite different from the three species (vs. fruiting from November to January). It grows on bare steep rocks, which is a distinctive habitat. The new species distributes in Guizhou Province and is far away from the other three species (Fig. 3).
Distribution and habitat. Based on current field observations, P. kuankuoshuiensis is only located in the Dazhuxi and Matixi valleys, the Kuankuoshui National Natural Reserve, Suiyang County, Guizhou Province. The area has a subtropical monsoon cli- Fl.
Fr.   mate and it is wet but not seasonly dry. It grows on moist steep limestone rocks (almost bare) beside streams at an altitude of approximately 820 m, and in groups of several thousand individuals.

Aug-Sep
Conservation status. This species is currently known to only occur in two valleys, with a population numbering several thousand individuals. It is suggested it be placed in the Near Threatened IUCN category (IUCN 2017).
Phenology. This new species was observed flowering from July to August and fruiting from August to September.
Etymology. The specific epithet 'kuankuoshuiensis' is derived from the plant's locality: Kuankuoshui National Natural Reserve, Guizhou Province, China.