Notulae de Ranunculaceis sinensibus (ⅩⅩⅢ)

Abstract

Abstract:

(1) In this paper, differences among the five genera constituting the tribe Cimi-

cifugeae of the family Ranunculaceae are discussed. Beesia, the first genus, with compound

cymes and flowers bearing neither petals nor staminodes, is different from the other four

genera with simple or compound racemes and flowers bearing either petals or staminodes,

and may occupy a primitive position within the tribe. As to the other four genera, Souliea is

characterized by the stem without basal leaf but with 2～5 sheath-like cataphylls, the sepals

being deciduous but not caducous, moderate in size and petaloid, the petals being much

smaller than sepals, but pink in color and more or less petaloid, the pollen grains being pan-

tocolpate or pantoporate, the carpels being 1～3 per flower, when mature forming dry linear

follicles conspicuously reticulate on the surface and dehiscent along the ventral suture, and

the seeds being reticulate-foveolate on the surface. These diagnostic characters indicate clear-

ly that Souliea might have deviated from the lineage formed by the next three genera, i. e.

Anemopsis, Cimicifuga, and Actaea, which have their own well-recognizable diagnostic

characters. Anemopsis is characterized by the normally developed basal leaf, the racemose

inflorescence with sparse and few long pedicellate flowers, the sepals 7～10 in number, mod-

erate in size, and petaloid, the petals slightly smaller than sepals, the tricolpate pollen

grains, the carpels 2～4 per flower, stalked, when mature forming dry oblong follicles with

transverse veins on the surface, and the seeds with scaly membranous wings. Cimicifuga is

distinguished by the normally developed basal leaf, the caducous, small, often sepaloid sepa-

ls, the organs of the second floral whorl sometimes with empty sterile anthers being stamin-

odes not petals, the tricolpate pollen grains, the carpels 1～8 per flower, when mature form-

ing dry oblong or ovoid follicles with transverse veins on the surface, and the seeds usually

with scaly membranous wings. The last genus Actaea is different by the basal leaf trans-

formed into a small scale, the caducous, small, often sepaloid sepals, the organs of the sec-

ond floral whorl being clawed petals, the pollen grains with 3(4～6) colpi, carpel 1 per flow-

er, when mature forming a fleshy indehiscent berry smooth on the surface and without any

veins, the seeds roughish or slightly rugose, neither foveolate nor winged on the surface, and

the advanced most asymmetric karyotype. According to the diagnostic characters given

above, we believe that Beesia, Souliea, Anemopsis, Cimicifuga, and Actaea do represent

five independent genera, and the treatment of the tribe Cimicifugeae including these five

genera in it by Hutchinson (1923), Janchen (1949) and some other authors, has precisely

shown the taxonomic diversity within the tribe. We are therefore unable to accept the treat-

ment published by Compton et al. (1998) to lump the two genera, Souliea and Cimicifu-

ga, into the genus Actaea. (2) Compton et al. (1998, 1997) found out that the Chinese

plants previously identified by various authors as Cimicifuga foetida L., in which the ter-

minal and lateral racemes of the compound raceme flower more or less simultaneously, differ

from the true C. foetida L. in northern Asia, in which the terminal raceme of the com-

pound raceme flowers before the lateral ones, and thus restored the species name Cimicifuga

mairei Lévl. , which was formerly reduced to the synonymy of C. foetida L. , for the Chi-

nese plants. After examining the specimens collected from Siberia and from Southwest China

we failed to find out any other differences in both vegetative and reproductive organs between

the plants of the two regions, and we consider that it is better to treat the populations in

Southwest and Central China as a geographical variety of Cimicifuga foetida L. A new

combination, Cimicifuga foetida L. var. mairei (Lévl.) W. T. Wang & Zh. Wang, is

thus made. (3) 3 species of Delphinium, 1 species and 1 variety of Clematis are described

as new.

Key words: Beesia, Souliea, Anemopsis, Cimicifuga, Actaea, Delphinium, Clematis

WANG Wen-Tsai, LI Liang-Qian, WANG Zheng. Notulae de Ranunculaceis sinensibus (ⅩⅩⅢ)[J]. .

[1]	YUAN Qiong, YANG Qin-Er. A further correction to the misidentifications of the Chinese Delphinium made by P.A.Munz in his“A synopsis of the Asian species of Delphinium，sensu stricto [J]. , 2003, 41(6): 553-562.
[2]	YANG Qin-Er. Cytology of ten species in Anemone, one in Anemoclema and six in Clematis (Trib. Anemoneae, Ranunculaceae) from China [J]. , 2002, 40(5): 396-405.
[3]	YANG Qin-Er. Cytologyof 12 species in Aconitum L. and of 18 species in Delphinium L. of the tribe Delphineae (Ranunculaceae) from China [J]. , 2001, 39(6): 502-514.
[4]	WANG Wen-Tsai. Notes on the genus Clematis (Ranunculaceae) [J]. , 2001, 39(4): 309-336.
[5]	He Xiaolin, Wang Dacheng. Crystal Structures of Neurotoxins Bmk M1 and M4 from Chinese Scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch [J]. , 2001, 18(1): 97-100.
[6]	WANG Wen-Tsai. Notes on the genus Clematis (Ranunculaceae) (Ⅲ) [J]. , 2000, 38(6): 497-514.
[7]	WANG Wen-Tsai. Notes on the genus Clematis (Ranunculaceae) (Ⅰ) [J]. , 2000, 38(4): 305-336.
[8]	CHEN Xiao-Lin, LI Ming, YOU Rui-Lin. A study on the development of stigma and megagametophyte, and embryogeny in Cimicifuga simplex Wormsk [J]. , 2000, 38(4): 337-342.
[9]	YANG Qin-Er. Karyomorphology of four species in Cimicifuga (Ranunculaceae) from China, with some cytogeographical notes on C. foetida [J]. , 1999, 37(5): 433-444.
[10]	YANG Qin-Er. Correction of karyotype of diploid Beesia calthifolia and discovery of a tetraploid cytotype [J]. , 1999, 37(1): 1-9.
[11]	YANG Qin-Er. Does Actaea asiatica Have the Most Symmetric and Primitive Karyotype in the Ranunculaceae? [J]. , 1998, 36(6): 490-495.
[12]	WANG Xiao-Quan, DENG Zheng-Rong, HONG De-Yuan. The Systematic Position of Beesia: Evidence from ITS (nrDNA) Sequence Analysis [J]. , 1998, 36(5): 403-410.
[13]	WANG Wen-Tsai. Notulae De Ranunculaceis Sinensibus(ⅩⅩⅡ) [J]. , 1998, 36(2): 150-172.
[14]	Wang Wen-tsai, Li Liang-qian. Notulae De Ranunculaceis Sinensibus (XVII) [J]. , 1994, 32(5): 467-479.
[15]	Pu Xu-Feng, Jia Min-Ru. A New Species of Cimicifuga from Sichuan [J]. , 1992, 30(5): 478-480.

Notulae de Ranunculaceis sinensibus (ⅩⅩⅢ)

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