Aspidistra crassifila (Asparagaceae), a new species from Guangxi, China

Background Aspidistra crassifila Yan Liu & C.-I Peng, a new species of the Asparagaceae from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, is described and illustrated. Results The new species is similar to A. subrotata Y. Wan & C. C. Huang in the perianth lobes triangular-lanceolate and horizontally spreading, but differs by the perianth campanulate, lobes with appendages at base, stamens 6–8 mm long, filaments enlarged, anthers adnate to perianth tube, connectives extended and upcurved. The chromosome number of the new species was determined to be 2n = 38, and the karyotype was formulated as 2n = 22m2SC+4sm+12st. Conclusion A careful study of the literature, herbarium specimens and living plants, both in the wild and in cultivation in the experimental greenhouse, support the recognition of the new species Aspidistra crassifila, which is described herein. Aspidistra crassifila is currently known only from Shiwandashan Mountains, which lie in southern Guangxi. A line drawing, color plates and a distribution map are given for the new species to aid in identification. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1999-3110-54-43) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


Background
The genus Aspidistra Ker-Gawler (Asparagaceae) was established in 1822 and is comprised of ca. 100 species, more than 60 of which occur in China (Lang et al., 1999;Li, 2004;Tillich, 2005Tillich, , 2008Hou et al., 2009;Lin et al., 2009Lin et al., , 2010Liu et al., 2011). In March 2005, during a field trip to Shiwandashan Mountains in southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, the second author (Yan Liu) collected and brought back a sterile plant of Aspidistra for cultivation, which flowered in Guilin Botanical Garden next spring. We went on another trip to the same locality in Shiwandashan Mountains in January 2007 and were able to collect fruiting materials of this species. Compared with other species of Aspidistra, it was recognized as an undescribed species that differs from congeners in its peculiar adnate stamens with extended and upcurved connectives.
Previously, detailed cytological data were known for 42 species in the genus Aspidistra (Bogner and Arnautov, 2004;Li, 2004;Yamashita and Tamura, 2004;Qiao et al., 2008;Hou et al., 2009, Lin et al., 2010Liu et al., 2011). Aspidistra crassifila shared a number of cytological features, namely basic chromosome numbers of x = 19, trimodal chromosome complement, the first pair of longer median chromosomes and 10th median SC-chromosomes, in common with those of the Aspidistra species previously reported (Lin et al., 2010).

Ecology
On shaded bamboo slopes in seasonal rain forests (monsoon forests).

Phenology
Flowering from March to May; fruits maturing in May next year.

Etymology
The specific epithet 'crassifila' is derived from its enlarged filaments.

Conclusion
A careful study of the literature, herbarium specimens and living plants, both in the wild and in cultivation in the experimental greenhouse, support the recognition of the new species Aspidistra crassifila, which is described herein. Aspidistra crassifila is currently known only from Shiwandashan Mountains, which lie in southern Guangxi.