A taxonomic revision of three Chinese spurless species of genus Epimedium L. (Berberidaceae)

Abstract

Due to some common or similar features (e.g., small leaf, spurless, yellow flower), three Chinese species of the genus Epimedium (Berberidaceae), E. ecalcaratum, E. platypetalum, and E. campanulatum, are controversial based on morphological characteristics. In the present study, the descriptions of morphological characteristics for the three species were revised based on extensive studies and observations both in field and in herbaria. In general, E. ecalcaratum has long creeping rhizomes 1–3 mm in diameter, two alternate or opposite trifoliolate leaves, 7–14 flowers, and petals obovate and apex subacute. Epimedium platypetalum has short or long-creeping rhizomes 1–3 mm in diameter, one trifoliolate leaf, 2–6 flowers, and petals oblong and apex rounded. Epimedium campanulatum has compact rhizomes 4–6 mm in diameter, two alternate or opposite trifoliolate leaves, 15–43 flowers, and petals obovate and apex rounded. Through comparison, we found that despite the close affinity of these three species, they can be distinguished by rhizome differences, stem-leaves, the morphology of flower (e.g., petals), and the number of per inflorenscence.

Plastid genome data provide new insights into the phylogeny and evolution of the genus Epimedium

“…Taxonomically important morphological characters, such as petal shape and flower diameter, were selected to analyze the morphological evolution of the Epimedium genus. Morphological information was obtained from the description in the Flora of China [2] and taxonomic literature [16] , [42] , [43] , [44] . States for the two characters were defined based on the classification system of Stearn [1] as follows: petal shape (scheme 1): (0) flat, (1) saccate or short spur, (2) long spur without basal laminae, (3) long spur with basal laminae; flower diameter: (0) small flower (shorter than inner sepals, <1 cm in diameter), (1) large flower (longer than inner sepals, >1 cm in diameter).…”

The taxonomic relevance of flower colour for Epimedium (Berberidaceae), with morphological and nomenclatural notes for five species from China

“…50 endemic species (except E.koreanum Nakai) (Stearn 2002; Ying 2002). Epimedium is an attractive genus, both horticulturally and botanically, and has received increased attention in past decades (Avent 2010; Ward 2004; Ying 1975, 2001, 2002; Stearn 2002; Zhang et al 2011, 2014, 2015; Liu et al 2016, 2017). Since the 1980’s, further botanical exploration and collections in China have dramatically increased the number of Epimedium species in this country (Ying 1975; Ying et al 2011; Stearn 2002; Xu et al 2014a).…”

“…However, many Epimedium species have been described for China based on a single locality and/or the descriptions were based on limited specimens or collections (Stearn 1997; Zhang et al 2011, 2014; Xu et al 2014a). Due to the lack of additional field investigation and observation of morphological characters, the morphological variation amongst many Epimedium species is not yet well understood (Xu et al 2014a, 2014b; Zhang et al 2015; Liu et al 2016, 2017). From 1990 to 1998, Stearn used a small collection of Epimedium to describe 16 species, which were based on a limited number of cultivated specimens (Stearn 1990, 1993a, 1993b, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), and thus, the morphological descriptions of some species were incomplete and/or inaccurate (Buck 2003; Xu et al 2014a; Zhang et al 2015; Liu et al 2016).…”

“…From 1990 to 1998, Stearn used a small collection of Epimedium to describe 16 species, which were based on a limited number of cultivated specimens (Stearn 1990, 1993a, 1993b, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), and thus, the morphological descriptions of some species were incomplete and/or inaccurate (Buck 2003; Xu et al 2014a; Zhang et al 2015; Liu et al 2016). Our recent studies have focused on the standardisation of morphological descriptions in the genus (e.g., Liu et al 2016, 2017).…”

The complete chloroplast genome of Epimedium jinchengshanense Y. J. Zhang & J. Q. Li (Berberidaceae), an ornamental and medicinal species

“…The taxonomy and phylogenetic relationship within Epimedium remained controversial due to the large morphological variations of the genus (Liu et al. 2017 ; Xu et al. 2019 , 2020a , b ; Guo et al.…”