Tên Khoa học: Aspidistra albopurpurea Aver. et Tillich
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Rhizome creeping, plagiotropic, sparsely branching, 3 – 4(6) cm long, densely nodal, covered by fibrous bract remains, with many brownish roots. Cataphylls convolute, cuneate, as young white at the base, greenish toward apex, speckled with purple, later becoming dull light brownish, to 12(14) cm long, early splitting into irregular fibres, enveloping petiole by fibrous-papyraceous remains. Leaves 2 – 3 (4), densely arising from rhizome apex, petiolate. Petiole stiff, erect, straight or hardly inclined, (15)20 – 25(30) cm long. Leaf blade ascending to arching, elliptic, shortly attenuate at base and at apex, (10)12 – 14(16) cm long, (2.5)3.0 – 4.0(4.5) cm wide, more or less straight along margin, dark green, with strong, prominent midvein and insignificant, secondary veins. Flowers solitary, arising from the rhizome near apex, pedunculate. Peduncle arising horizontally, arching or flexuose, white to pink or light purplish, terete, (3)4 – 8(10) cm long, 2.0 – 2.5 mm in diameter, with (3)4 – 5(6) sterile bracts; bracts broadly ovate, concave, thin, white, speckled with purple, obtuse to acute, 0.5 – 1.5 cm long, and 4 – 10 mm wide. Floral bract 1, white, speckled with purple, broadly triangular-ovate, concave, 1.0 – 1.5 cm long and wide, more or less densely adpressed to perigone from below. Flowers horizontally placed. Perigone tube widely bowl-shaped, white on both surfaces, with scattered red dots outside, 0.8 – 1.0 cm long, 1.4 – 1.6 cm in diameter, with 6 lobes. Lobes subequal, triangular, fleshy, flat, obtuse to blunt at apex, shallowly verruculose, slightly recurved, 3-grooved, 6 – 10 mm long, 5 – 7(8) mm wide at base, adaxially black – purple at base, white at apex, abaxially white, heavily spotted with light purple. Stamens 6, subsessile or on very short filaments, inserted at the bottom of perigone; anthers bean-shaped, 2.0 – 2.5 mm long, 0.8 – 1.0 mm wide; pollen sacs introrse; pollen light yellow. Pistil desk-shaped, peltate; ovary inconspicuous; style stout, white, cylindrical, (4)5 – 6(7) mm tall, 1.5 – 2.0 mm in diameter; stigma fleshy, discoid-peltate, white, purple along margin (thus forming a striking contrast to the milk-white tube base), 4 – 5 mm in diameter, 3-lobed, with semicircular lobes, its upper surface verrucose.

Distribution

Northern Vietnam (Cao Bang province, Trung Khanh district). Endemic to northern Vietnam.

Ecology

Primary broad-leaved evergreen forests on outcrops of limestone, commonly found on shady slopes as a terrestrial or lithophytic herb, at 800 – 850 m a.s.l. Flowering in May – June. Locally very common (LC).

Aspidistra albopurpurea sp. nov.

(a) base of flowering plant, (b) peduncle and flower, (c) flower, frontal view, (d) flower, sagittal section, (e) stigma in upper view. All drawn from the type, L. Averyanov, P. K. Loc, P. V. The, N. T. Vinh, HAL 5579 by L. Averyanov.

Aspidistra albopurpurea sp. nov.

(A) base of flowering plant (type specimen L. Averyanov, P. K. Loc, P. V. the, N. T. Vinh, HAL 5579); A. khangii sp. nov. (B) flowering plant, (C), (D) base of shoot with old flower (type specimen L. Averyanov, N. T. Hiep, N. S. Khang, P. V. the, K. Inkhavilay, S. Lorphengsy, LA-VN 104); A. lubae var. lubae (E) – (J) stem and flower details (type specimen L. Averyanov, T. Maisak, L. Osinovetz et al., CPC 1566a/no. 4); A. stellatesp. nov. (K), (L) flowering plants (type specimen (P. K. Loc, N. X. Tam, L. Averyanov, HAL 184). Photographs by L. Averyanov and N. S. Khang.