Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. (2003) 44: 67-72
Wu et al. — Eurya septata sp. nov.
Studies of Eurya (Ternstroemiaceae) in Taiwan (1), a new endemic species, Eurya septata
Chi-Chih Wu, Ze-Fu Hsu, and Chih-Hua Tsou*
Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 115, Republic of China
(Received January 21, 2002; Accepted August 6, 2002)
Abstract. Eurya septata (Ternstroemiaceae) is described as a new species endemic to Taiwan. It is most similar to E. chinensis, a species common in Taiwan and southeast China. The new species can be separated from E. chinensis in having septate anthers, shorter pedicels, and more flowers per fascicle.
Keywords: Anther septation; Eurya; Eurya chinensis; Eurya septata; Taiwan; Taxonomy; Ternstroemiaceae.
Introduction
Ternstroemiaceae, traditionally treated as Ternstroemioideae in Theaceae (Keng, 1962; Cronquist, 1988; Dahlgren, 1989; Thorne, 1992; Takhatajan, 1997), were recently recognized as an independent family on the basis of large-scale DNA cladograms (APG, 1998; Judd et al., 1999; Prince and Park, 2001; Anderberg et al., 2002). In these cladograms, Ternstroemioideae and Camellioideae, the two subfamilies of Theaceae, always form two separate clades and have no sister relationships (APG, 1998; Savolainen et al., 2000; Soltis et al., 2000; Anderberg et al., 2002). Eurya, comprising about 130 species, is the largest genus in the Ternstroemiaceae. It is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and the Pacific islands (Lin, 1998). Twelve species of Eurya are known in Taiwan (Hsieh et al., 1996) and constitute an important element in forests from low to mid elevations. This genus is easy to recognize by the following characters: plants of shrubs or small trees; leaves alternate, distichous, coriaceous, serrulate, usually 4-7 cm in length; flowers dioecious, small, axillary; sepals five; petals five, distinct; ovary superior; fruits small, ca. 5 mm in diameter, subglobose to globose. However, identification of species is often difficult because many species of Eurya are highly similar in gross morphology, and useful taxonomic characters are limited. In most herbaria in Taiwan, the determinations of collections of Eurya are usually chaotic, especially for those specimens filed under the names E. acuminata, E. chinensis, E. emarginata, E. hayatai, and E. loquaiana; in addition, use of the following names in Taiwan is not consistent among floristic treatments: E. acuminata, E. hayatai, E. japonica, E. nanjenshansis, and E. taitungensis (Li, 1976; Hsieh et al., 1996; Yang et al., 1997).
In our study, we examined nearly all the specimens of Eurya in the major herbaria of Taiwan. Among the numerous morphological characters we examined, as Lin (1966,
1998) has emphasized, anther septation appears to be one of the most reliable and useful characters in separating species of Eurya. Lin (1998) even used "anther septate or not septate" as the single criterion to divide Eurya into two subgenera. Among the species in Taiwan, E. emarginata, E. glaberrima, E. gnaphalocarpa, and E. strigillosa were recorded as having septate anthers, and the remaining species as having nonseptate anthers by Lin (1998). Our examination confirmed Lin's descriptions in this regard, but we noticed an interesting group of specimens that possessed septate anthers but did not match E. emarginata, E. glaberrima, E. gnaphalocarpa, or E. strigillosa in other features. This unknown species is similar to E. chinensis in most morphological characters but differs from it by having septate anthers, shorter pedicels, and more flowers per fascicle. This species is widely distributed in the western part of Taiwan (Figure 3).
This unknown species exhibits clear delimitations from all the existing species (Merrill, 1926; Kobuski, 1938; Walker, 1976; Hsieh et al., 1996; Lin, 1998; Yang et al., 1997), and, therefore, we are describing it as new to science.
Species Description
Eurya septata Chi C. Wu, Z. F. Hsu & C. H. Tsou, sp. nov.—TYPE: TAIWAN. Pingtung Hsien, Laufo Shan, elev. 350-500 m, 30 Dec 1999, Chiu-Mei Wang 4057 (Holotype: HAST; Isotype: TNM; both with numerous male flowers). Figures 1 and 2
Arbuscula vel frutex, ramulis pubescentibus. Folia alterna, coriacea, elliptica, 2.5-10 cm longa et 1.8-4 cm lata, apice acuminata, basi cuneata, margine serrulata, petiolis 5-10 mm longis, pilosis. Flores 3-6, axillares, subsessiles vel pedicellis 0.4-1 mm longis, sepalis 5, inaequalibus, petalis 5, oblongis, glabris, staminibus 14-16, antheris apiculatis, septatis, ovario glabro, stylo 1 mm longo, tripartito. Fructus globosi, glabri, ca. 4 mm longi.
Small trees or shrubs; branchlets pubescent, slightly ridged, terminal buds pilose. Leaves alternate, distichous,
*Corresponding author. Tel: 886-2-27899596; Fax: 886-2-27827954; E-mail: botsou@ccvax.sinica.edu.tw
