A quantitative analysis of herbarium materials of the Photinia villosa complex

Hsu Ping-Sheng, Li Lin-Chu

Received:1900-01-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:1980-08-18 Published:1980-08-18
Contact: Hsu Ping-Sheng

Abstract:

Taxa of the Photinia villosa complex, including P. villosa, its var. sinica, and P.

parvifolia, are taxonomically perplexing. By means of conventional taxonomic methods,

it is difficult to discriminate them from one another. Basing upon herbarium materials

of about 100 sheets of specimens collected from seven provinces in China, a quantitative

analysis of the correlations between certain key characters was then used to reexamine

the validity of the above taxa. Results from both pictorialized scatter diagram and

histogram have indicated that the complex could be divided into the following parts:

(1) I(V)—characterized by many (7-32)-flowered corymbs and prominent pubes-

cence at least when young, agreed with typical Photinia villosa; (2) II(S)—with

less (2-12)-flowered corymbs (sometimes with umbels on the same herbarium sheet) and

leaves usually pubescent along the midrib on the lower side, agreed well with P. villosa

var. sinica; (3)III(P)—with few (1-9)-flowered umbels and plant glabrous

throughout, agreed with P. parvifolia, but apparently overlaped with the lower portion

of II(S); (4) IV(T)—characterized by umbels with still fewer [1-2(-5)]

flowers, especially long, slenderer and pendulous pedicels and plant totally glabrous,

was undoubtedly a new form. Both diagrams also showed that these four parts are so

closely related to one another that they are by no means strictly separable. Thus it is

better to treat them all as varieties of the said complex. A proper taxonomic treatment

should include the reduction of Photinia parvifolia to a varietal rank of P. villosa as

well as an addition of the newly discovered variety P. villosa var. tenuipes as presented

in this paper.

Hsu Ping-Sheng, Li Lin-Chu. A quantitative analysis of herbarium materials of the Photinia villosa complex[J]. .

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