Ding Shi-Xiong, Jiang Hui, Tian Jing, Ren Jing, Mutie Fredrick Munyao, Waswa Emmanuel Nyongesa, Hu Guang-Wan, Wang Qing-Feng
Core Botanical Gardens/Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Forestry College, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China.
Bot Stud. 2023 Feb 1;64(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s40529-023-00367-y.
The genus Veronicastrum Heist. ex Fabr. are mainly distributed in East Asia, and only Veronicastrum virginicum (L.) Farw. is disjunctively distributed in eastern North America. The south area of China (extending to Taiwan Island) is the richest in Veronicastrum species. It is of medicinal importance in China as traditional herbs used to treat ascites diseases that caused by schistosomiasis. During field investigation of plant resources in Pingbaying National Forest Park, Southwestern Hubei, China, an unknown flowering population of Veronicastrum was discovered from thick humus layers adjacent to rocks under broad-leaved forests by walkways. They were collected and morphological characters assesed for further taxonomic treatment. Molecular analysis was also conducted to ascertain its phylogenetic position in the genus Veronicastrum.
This species is similar to Veronicastrum liukiuense (Ohwi) T.Yamaz. from the Ryukyu Islands, but can be distinctly differed by its axillary inflorescences (versus terminal on short leafy branches), pedicels up to 2.5 mm (versus sessile), corollas purple to purple-red (versus white tinged with pale purple) and florescence June to July (versus September to October). Also, phylogenetic studies showed the species was an independent clade in the genus Veronicastrum based on the maximum likelihood (ML) analyses using two different matrix sequences of concatenated molecular markers. The plastid genome of this new species is also reported in this study for the first time.
The morphological and molecular evidences support the recognition of Veronicastrum wulingense as a new species.
腹水草属主要分布于东亚，仅美洲腹水草间断分布于北美东部。中国南方地区（延伸至台湾岛）腹水草属物种最为丰富。在中国，它作为传统草药对治疗血吸虫病引起的腹水病具有重要药用价值。在中国湖北西南部平坝营国家森林公园进行植物资源野外调查期间，在阔叶林步道旁靠近岩石的深厚腐殖质层中发现了一个未知的腹水草开花种群。对其进行了采集并评估了形态特征以进行进一步的分类处理。还进行了分子分析以确定其在腹水草属中的系统发育位置。
该物种与琉球群岛的琉球腹水草相似，但可以通过其腋生花序（而非短叶状枝顶端）、长达2.5毫米的花梗（而非无梗）、紫色至紫红色的花冠（而非带浅紫色的白色）以及6月至7月的花期（而非9月至10月）明显区分开来。此外，系统发育研究表明，基于使用两种不同串联分子标记矩阵序列的最大似然（ML）分析，该物种是腹水草属中的一个独立分支。本研究还首次报道了这个新物种的质体基因组。
形态学和分子证据支持将武陵腹水草认定为一个新物种。
