A new ocellate liverwort species,
Cheilolejeunea zhui
(Lejeuneaceae), is described from Guangxi, China. The new species is similar to the neotropical
C. urubuensis
in having moniliate ocelli in the leaf lobes and in general appearances but differs in having obliquely spreading leaves, obtuse to subacute leaf apex, thin‐walled leaf cells with distinct trigones, shallowly bifid female bracteole apex, and numerous ocelli in its perianths. Molecular phylogeny of data from three regions (nrITS,
trn
L–F, and
trn
G) confirmed the systematic position of this new species to be sister to
C. urubuensis
, well apart from the remaining members of the genus. Based on morphological and molecular evidence,
Cheilolejeunea
sect.
Moniliocella sect. nov.
is proposed to accommodate
C. urubuensis
and
C. zhui
. The discovery of
C. zhui
represents the fourth known species in
Cheilolejeunea
with linearly arranged ocelli.