Tên Khoa học: Aspidistra semiaperta Aver. et Tillich
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Tên tiếng Việt: Tỏi đá bán hổng
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Description

Rhizome terete, epigeous to hypogeous, creeping, plagio- tropic, much branched; branches 7—10(12) mm in diam­eter, 5—10(15) cm long, densely nodal, covered by dissected papyraceous remains of cataphylls, with many distant erect leaves. Cataphylls convolute, linear to narrowly cuneate, dark chestnut brown, 5—15 cm long. Leaves numerous, throughout apical parts of rhizomes, indistinctly distic­hous, petiolate, internodes 5—10 mm long. Petiole slender, erect, straight, to 50 cm long. Leaf blade upright to almost horizontal, ovate to elliptic, cuneate at base, shortly attenu­ate at apex, (14)17—28(32) cm long, (4)6—8(10) cm wide, uniformly dark glossy green, plicate, with prominent mid­vein on lower surface and (1)2(3) inconspicuous secondary veins at both sides. Flowers odorless, solitary, shortly pedun­culate. Peduncle dirty purple—violet, (6)8—10(12) mm long, 2.0—2.5 mm in diameter, with 2—3(4) scattered and 1—2 bracts at base of perigone; lower bracts broadly ovate, papyra­ceous, white with fine irregular dirty-purple markings, blunt to obtuse at apex, 5-8(10) mm long and wide, the distal bracts adpressed to perigone, broadly triangular-ovate, con­cave, 5-8(10) mm long, 5-10(12) mm wide, often splitting longitudinally into 2-3 lobes. Perigone tube depressed urce- olate, 10-15(16) mm in diameter, (4)5-6(7) mm tall, finely verruculose, purple-brown or dark purple-violet to almost black on both surfaces, with 6 lobes. Perigone lobes sub­similar, triangular, blunt to obtuse at apex, fleshy, with nar­row scarious margin, rugose or finely verruculose, straight erect or with approaching tips, 4-5(6) mm long, (4.0)5.0- 6.0(6.5) mm wide, each inside with 2 ridge-like fleshy roughly papillose keels running down to the middle of perig­one tube. Stamens 6; anthers sessile, flat, broadly ovate, cor­date at base, 1.8-2.2 mm long, 1.4—1.6 mm wide, adpressed to the base of perigone tube, horizontally spreading with pollen sacs oriented upwards; pollen bright yellow. Pistil mushroom-shaped, with peltate stigma; ovary inconspicu­ous; style stout, white with many dirty purple marks, shortly obpyramidal, broadening to the apex from the base, 1.5— 2.5(3.0) mm tall, 2.5—3.0 mm in diameter. Stigma large, fleshy, hexagonal, (9)10—12(14) mm in diameter, indistinctly 5-lobed, white with dark purple-violet margin, upwards incurved at sinuses of stigma lobes, upper surface flat, papil­lose, with dirty purple-violet irregular palmate markings.

Distribution

Northern Vietnam (Hoa Binh province, Lac Son district). Endemic.

Ecology

Shady humid depressions in primary broad-leaved forest on steep rocky slopes of remnant of mountain composed of solid crystalline highly eroded limestone at elevation about 500—700 m a.s.l. Soil rich in humus. Flowering in Nov—Jan. The species is considered to be of ‘Least Concern’ (LC) (IUCN 2012).

Similar species

Aspidistra semiaperta is most similar to A. stenophylla C. R. Lin & R. C. Hu, known from Guangxi, China (Hu et al. 2014), but differs clearly in the perigone tube depressed urceolate (versus urceolate to subglobular), the stigma white, flat, papillose (versus purple, with 3 prominent radial ridges and 3 C-shaped swellings in between), and leaf blades ovate ca 15—30 X 5—9 cm (versus linear 50—60 X 1.5—2.5 cm).