Nomenclatural Novelties in Polygonatum (Asparagaceae) and Notes on Some Recent Species Distributions

A New Polygonatum, P. bifolium species (Asparagaceae: Nolinoideae: Polygonateae) from Myanmar and a Checklist of the Species Known to Occur There

“…Notes. This species was described from a single location in Yunnan, but it is more abundant throughout the Gaoligongshan and adjacent Myanmar, confirmed by several historical collections made by F. Kingdon-Ward (Floden, 2018b). It occurs with some frequency across the northern mountains of Myanmar, from the Gaoligongshan west to the region along the India border.…”

“…Notes. This species occurs across the northern tier of Myanmar, from the Gaoligongshan border with China west into easternmost India (Floden, 2018b). It is found at lower elevations as a lithophyte, epiphyte, and occasionally terrestrially, where it likely does not persist for long.…”

“…Recently, several novel species of Polygonatum have been described from the eastern edge of the Himalaya where the largest number of species occur (Zhao & He, 2014;Floden, 2015aFloden, , 2015bFloden, , 2018aFloden, , 2018bCai et al, 2015). Kress et al (2003) reported five species for Myanmar (P. biflorum (Walter) Elliott, a North American native, was surely reported in error, and no vouchers have been traced).…”

“…Kress et al (2003) reported five species for Myanmar (P. biflorum (Walter) Elliott, a North American native, was surely reported in error, and no vouchers have been traced). Since 2003, additional species have been reported for Myanmar (Floden, 2018b): P. brevistylum Baker, P. campanulatum G. W. Hu, P. cath cartii Baker, P. cirrhifolium (Wall.) Royle, P. gong shanense L. H. Zhao & X. J.…”

“…The generic placement of this species in Polygonatum is clear from molecular data, which place it in section Verticillata in a clade of mostly opposite-leaved species found in the eastern Himalaya (Floden, 2017), and is also supported by the valvate tepals (vs. imbricate in the sister genus Heteropolygonatum M. N. Tamura & Ogisu [Tamura et al, 1997b]). Terminal flowers are found in some Polygonatum species (Floden, 2014(Floden, , 2018b and are not diagnostic for Heteropoly gonatum despite the presence of terminal flowers being used originally to define the genus (Tamura et al, 1997b). Diagnosis.…”