Research Article |
Corresponding author: Qingjun Yuan ( yuanqingjun@icmm.ac.cn ) Corresponding author: Lanping Guo ( glp01@126.com ) Corresponding author: Luqi Huang ( huangluqi01@126.com ) Academic editor: Peter de Lange
© 2022 Yiheng Wang, Jiahui Sun, Jingyi Wang, Qiang Mao, Wenpan Dong, Qingjun Yuan, Lanping Guo, Luqi Huang.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Wang Y, Sun J, Wang J, Mao Q, Dong W, Yuan Q, Guo L, Huang L (2022) Coptis huanjiangensis, a new species of Ranunculaceae from Guangxi, China. PhytoKeys 213: 131-141. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.213.96546
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Coptis huanjiangensis, a new species of Ranunculaceae distributed in the valleys of Jiuwanshan National Natural Reserve in Huanjiang county (Guangxi, China), is described and illustrated for the first time based on morphological and plastome sequences data. It differs from C. chinensis, C. deltoidei and C. omeiensis mainly by having notably longer petiole, scape, bigger leaf blade with lobes obviously remote and robust rhizomes without stolons. Phylogenetic analyses support that C. huanjiangensis is sister to C. omeiensis and C. deltoidei.
China, Coptis, Guangxi, new taxa, taxonomy
The genus Coptis Salisb. (Ranunculaceae), containing 15 recognized species, is one of the most medicinally important genera in China and demonstrates a classical eastern Asian and North American disjunct distributional pattern. According to the morphology, especially flower and leaf, genus representatives distributed in China had been classified into six species and one variant, i. e., C. chinensis Franch. (endemic to SW China), C. chinensis var. brevisepala W. T. Wang & P. K. Hsiao (endemic to SE China), C. deltoidei C. Y. Cheng & P. K. Hsiao (endemic to Sichuan, China), C. omeiensis (Chen) C. Y. Cheng (endemic to Sichuan, China), C. quinquefolia Miq. (distributed in Taiwan province and Japan), C. quinquesecta W. T. Wang (endemic to Yunnan, China) and C. teeta Wall. (endemic to SW China) (
All these species have branched rhizomes, basal and long petioled leaves splitting into three–five segments, small and actinomorphic flowers. Most of these species are less than 30 cm in height and grow in shady places in forest valleys at an altitude of 600–2500 meters. Due to the richness in benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, various Coptis species have been used in China ethnomedicine, and three of them, C. chinensis, C. deltoidea, and C. teeta, are used as official Huanglian ‘Weilian’, ‘Yalian’ and ‘Yunlian’ in the Chinese Pharmacopeia respectively (
The south-western limestone area is one of the biodiversity centers in China, especially in Guangxi (
Samples of the new species were collected in the field and 12 related species of Coptis (a total of nineteen accessions) were obtained from the herbarium of
Total genomic DNA was extracted from specimens using a modified cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) method and purified with the Genebetter DNA clean-up kit (GeneBetter Biotech Corporation, Beijing, China) (
PE150 sequencing was conducted on an Illumina HiSeq XTen platform at Novogene (Tianjin, China). The raw data of the PE150 sequencing were filtered using the Trimmomatic 0.39 software to obtain high-quality reads (
A total of 23 plastid sequences were aligned using the MAFFT online service and manually adjusted using MEGA X (
To better clarify the evolutionary position of the new species within Coptis, phylogenetic analyses were constructed based on the 23 complete plastid sequences with Asteropyrum as outgroups. The aligned sequences were 154,249 bp in length for analysis. The topologies of the ML and BI trees were identical with all the branches strongly-supported (ML BS = 100 and BI PP = 1) (Fig.
Coptis huanjiangensis is morphologically similar to C. chinensis, C. deltoidei and C. omeiensis, but it differs from these species by having notably longer petioles (15–40 cm), scapes (20–32 cm), and bigger leaf blades with lobes remote obviously.
China. Guangxi: Huanjiang County, Jiuwanshan National Natural Reserve, 1082 m, 25°12'1.07"N, 108°38'28.32"E, valleys, 24 January 2022, Yiheng Wang HJ220124I02 (holotype
Herbs perennial, rhizomes branched, without stolons. Leaves basal, petiole 15–40 cm, glabrous. Leaf blade ovate-triangular, 12–22 × 9–22 cm, three-sect, papery to subleathery, abaxially glabrous, adaxially nearly glabrous on veins, base cordate, margin with sparsely upturned spiny hairs; central segment petiolulate (petiole 2.5–4 cm), ovate-rhombic, 11–18 × 7–14 cm, deeply four-ten-lobed, lobes remote, ultimate lobes margin acute serrate, apex acute or obtuse; lateral segments similar to or slightly shorter than the central one, obliquely ovate, unequally two-parted. Scapes one to several, erect, longer or shorter than the leaves, 20–32 cm tall, glabrous, sulcate. Inflorescences terminal, often monochasial, five-ten-flowered; flowers small, actinomorphic, bisexual; bracts lanceolate, palmately divided. Sepals five or six, greenish or redish yellow, long ellipsoid or lanceolate, 5.5–9.0 × 1.8–3.5 mm, sparsely puberulous. Petals spatulate, 2–5 mm long, glabrous, apex rounded to obtuse, 1/3–1/2 as long as sepals. Stamens numerous, glabrous, 2–4 mm-long, outer ones slightly shorter than petals. Pistils 8–14, 3–5 mm long; follicles 4.5–9.0 mm long, stipitate; seeds ellipsoid, ca. 1–2 mm long, brown.
Coptis huanjiangensis L.Q.Huang, Q.J.Yuan & Y.H.Wang, sp. nov. A species habitat (Jiuwanshan National Natural Reserve, Huanjiang County, Guangxi, China) B plant in florescence stage C plant in fruiting stage D leaf, frontal and back view E margin with sparsely upturned spiny hairs F–H inflorescence and flowers I–K follicles and seeds L root. Photos by Yiheng Wang, Jingyi Wang & Qiang Mao.
This species has only been found in the valleys of Jiuwanshan National Natural Reserve, Huanjiang County up until now. It grows in shaded places in valleys at 800–1200 m. a. s. l.
The specific epithet is derived from the type locality, Huanjiang County, Guangxi.
The species was observed flowering in February – March and fruiting in April–June.
There are seven species and one variant of Coptis distributed in China. An identification key is presented below.
1 | Leaves five-sect | 2 |
– | Leaves three-sect | 3 |
2 | Rhizome robust; leaf blade 5.5–14 cm wide, central segment pinnately divided, apex Attenuate | C. quinquesecta |
– | Rhizome slender; leaf blade 2–6 cm wide, central segment three-lobed, apex acute | C. quinquefolia |
3 | Leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly ovate; lateral segments 3–3.5 × shorter than central segment; sepals linear-lanceolate | C. omeiensis |
– | Leaf blade ovate to ovate-triangular; lateral segments slightly shorter than central segment; sepals lanceolate, elliptic, or narrowly ovate | 4 |
4 | Petals spatulate | 5 |
– | Petals lanceolate to linear-lanceolate | 6 |
5 | Inflorescences three–five-flowered | C. teeta |
– | Inflorescences more than five-flowered | C. huanjiangensis |
6 | Leaf segment lobes ± contiguous to each other; stamens ca. 1/2 as long as petals | C. deltoidei |
– | Leaf segment lobes remote; outer stamens slightly shorter than petals | 7 |
7 | Sepals 9–13 mm, ca. 2 × as long as petals | C. chinensis var. chinensis |
– | Sepals ca. 6.5 mm, slightly longer than petals | C. chinensis var. brevisepala |
Plastoms have been extensively used in phylogeny reconstruction and species delimitation studies because of their moderate evolution rate and abundant phylogenetic information (
Distinguishing features of C. huanjiangensis in comparison with other related species.
Characters | C. huanjiangensis | C. deltoidei | C. omeiensis | C. chinensis var. chinensis | C. chinensis var. brevisepala |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leaf blade | ovate-triangular, 12–22 × 9–22 cm, papery to subleathery | ovate, 4–16 × 5–15 cm, papery to subleathery | lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 6–16 × 3.5–6.3 cm, subleathery | ovate-triangular, 4–10 × 4–10 cm, papery to subleathery | ovate-triangular, 4–10 × 4–10 cm, papery to subleathery |
Leaf margin | deeply 4–10 lobed, lobes remote | 4–6 lobed, lobes ± contiguous to each other | 7–14 lobed, lobes remote | deeply 3–5 lobed | deeply 3–5 lobed |
Relationship of lateral segment and central segment in length | lateral segments similar to or slightly shorter than central one | lateral segments slightly shorter than central one | lateral segments 3–3.5 × shorter than central one | lateral segments slightly shorter than central one | lateral segments slightly shorter than central one |
Petiole length | 15–40 cm | 6–18 cm | 5–14 cm | 5–12 cm | 5–12 cm |
Scape length | 20–32 cm | slightly longer than leaves | 15–27 cm | 12–25 cm | 12–25 cm |
Sepal number | 5 or 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Sepal shape | long ellipsoid or lanceolate | narrowly ovate | linear-lanceolate | lanceolate | lanceolate |
Petal shape | Spatulate | lanceolate | linear-lanceolate | linear-lanceolate | linear-lanceolate |
The length ratio of sepal vs petal | ca. 2–3 times | ca. 2–3 times | ca. 2 times | ca. 2 times | sepal slightly longer than petals |
Are there any stolons | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
The authors are grateful to Prof. Yi Yu and Prof. Bing Liu for their helpful comments and improvement on the manuscript, Mr. Shaobiao Wei and Mr. Chengshun Zhao for their help in the field, Mr. Yingbao Sun for drawing line illustrations. This study was supported by CACMS innovation Fund (No.CI2021A03909), Innovation Team and Talents Cultivation Program of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. ZYYCXTD-D-202005) and Genetic Resources Management Project of State Forestry and Grassland Administration (KJZXSA202105).
Accession number of 23 sequenced or downloaded chloroplast genome in this study
Data type: table (excel file)
The photo of holotype stored at the
Data type: figure (JPG image)
The photo of isotype stored at the
Data type: figure (JPG image)