Aspidistra cadamensis (Asparagaceae), a new species from Central Vietnam

The genus Aspidistra Ker Gawler (1822: 628) is represented in tropical and subtropical SE Asia by more than 160 species. It has the highest diversity in southern China and northern Vietnam (Tillich 2005, 2014, Tillich & Averyanov 2012, Vislobokov et al. 2013). In Vietnam, more than 50 species are known: many species have been discovered from the limestone regions in North Vietnam, while about 21 species are found from sandstone forests in Central and South Vietnam (Gagnepain 1934, Bogner & Arnautov 2004, Bräuchler & Ngoc 2005, Averyanov & Tillich 2012, 2013, 2016a, 2016b, Averyanov et al. 2016, Tillich 2005, 2014, Tillich & Averyanov 2008, Tillich et al. 2007, Leong-Škorničková et al. 2014, Vislobokov 2015, Vislobokov et al. 2013, 2014b, 2014c, 2016a, 2016b, Lý & Tillich 2016). During extensive floristic surveys in Central Vietnam in 2016, several interesting specimens of Aspidistra were collected by the first author. The critical examination of these specimens and study of literature for Aspidistra in Vietnam and neighbouring countries allowed to evidence several new taxa, two of which have been recently described: A. averyanovii Lý & Tillich (2016: 54) and A. parviflora Lý & Tillich (2016: 56). In the present paper, we describe a further new species from Cà Đam mountains, Quảng Ngãi Province, namely Aspidistra cadamensis.