Cynanchum quangbinhense (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae), a new species from Vietnam, and additional information on C. officinale

Researchers have identified and described Cynanchum quangbinhense, a new species of plant belonging to the Apocynaceae family, discovered within Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam. This discovery increases the known diversity of the genus in Vietnam to seven species. The study highlights distinct morphological differences between C. quangbinhense and closely related species such as C. ovalifolium and C. kwangsiense, including variations in leaf shape, inflorescence structure, flower size, petal color, corona margins, and anther appendages. Additionally, the research provides a key to identifying Cynanchum species in Vietnam and offers notes on the morphological variation of C. officinale. The findings contribute valuable insights into the botanical diversity of the region while emphasizing the importance of conservation efforts for these unique plant species.

{"volume":"66","issue":"4","page-first":"459","container-title":"TAIWANIA","author":[{"literal":"Van The PHAM"},{"literal":"Thanh Trang PHAM"},{"literal":"Ngoc Bon TRINH"},{"literal":"Sinh Khang NGUYEN"},{"literal":"Minh Truong DAO"},{"literal":"Maxim S. NURALIEV"}],"language":"en","abstract":"This research provides a description and illustrations for a new species from the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Cynanchum quangbinhense. The distribution, habitat, phenology and conservation assessment for the species are also presented. The new species differs from closely related species, C. ovalifolium in many characters such as leaf shape, inflorescence type, fewer and smaller flowers, colour of petals, margins of the corona, and anthers appendages shape, and differs from C. kwangsiense in having small leaves, umbellate inflorescences, triangular sepals, retuse apex of petals, and plicate margin of corona. Our discovery raises the known species of this genus in Vietnam to seven. In addition, a key to species of Cynanchum in Vietnam, and notes on morphological variation of C. officinale are presented in this paper.","type":"article-journal","title":"Cynanchum quangbinhense (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae), a new species from Vietnam, and additional information on C. officinale","issued":{"date-parts":[["2021","12","1"]]},"URL":"","DOI":"10.6165/tai.2021.66.459"}