全 文 ：热带亚热带植物学报　2013， 21(5)： 389 ~ 396
Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Botany
Ligularia fangiana Hand.-Mazz. was described
on the basis of a specimen from Jinfo Shan,
Nanchuan, Chongqing, China, i.e. W. P. Fang 582[1].
In the protologue, Handel-Mazzetti stated that the
specimen includes no leaves, but only a long terminal
racemose inflorescence, and that his description
of the leaf shape (“lanceolate”) was totally based
on the field record. Handel-Mazzetti found the
inflorescence of his new species to be the same as
that of L. wilsoniana (Hemsl.) Greenm., a species
also distributed in Chongqing (including Nanchuan,
the type locality of L. fangiana) and western Hubei,
China, but he thought that there was no reason to
suspect the authenticity of the field record on the leaf
shape (owing to the fact, we guess, that the collector,
W. P. Fang (1899 – 1983), was a well-trained plant
taxonomist, studying at the University of Edinburgh
from 1934 to 1937 and gaining his doctorate).
Because the character combination of “lanceolate”
leaves and a long terminal racemose inflorescence is,
as emphasized by Handel-Mazzetti in the protologue,
very special in the genus Ligularia, he regarded L.
中国橐吾属(菊科-千里光族)的分类学研究(二)：
植夫橐吾的名实订正
任琛, 杨亲二*
(中国科学院华南植物园，中国科学院植物资源保护与可持续利用重点实验室， 广州 510650)
摘要： 通过文献和标本考证，发现 《中国植物志》 第 77 卷第 2 分册和 《Flora of China》 第 20 ~ 21 卷中均误将黑穗橐吾(Ligularia
melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz.)鉴定为植夫橐吾(L. fangiana Hand.-Mazz.)，而真正的植夫橐吾应处理为川鄂橐吾[L. wilsoniana
(Hemsl.) Greenm.]的异名。
关键词： 菊科； 橐吾属； 千里光族； 分类学
doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1005–3395.2013.05.001
Taxonomic Studies on the Genus Ligularia Cass. (Asteraceae, Senecioneae)
from China (II): The Identity of L. fangiana
REN Chen, YANG Qin-er*
(Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guangzhou 510650, China)
Abstract: Through literature and herbarium surveys, it was found that Ligularia melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz. had
been misidentified as L. fangiana Hand.-Mazz. in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae 77(2) and in the Flora of
China 20 – 21, and that L. fangiana should be placed in synonymy under L. wilsoniana (Hemsl.) Greenm.
Key words: Asteraceae; Ligularia Cass.; Senecioneae; Taxonomy
Received: 2012–10–25　　　　Accepted: 2013–01–14
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170186, 31110103911) and the Main Direction Program of
Knowledge Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-EW-Z-1).
* Corresponding author. E-mail: qeyang@scib.ac.cn
390 第21卷热带亚热带植物学报
fangiana as a rather isolated species of the genus.
In the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae 77(2),
Liu[2] recognized Ligularia fangiana as an independent
species, but his description and the accompanying
illustration are in conflict with the protologue of the
name in, among other characters, the pubescence and the
leaf shape. According to the protologue of L. fangiana,
the stem, the inflorescence axis, the peduncle, and the
involucres are all brownish puberulent, and the leaves
are “lanceolate”, but in the description by Liu[2], these
parts are all white arachnoid-puberulent, and the leaves
are oblong or ovate-oblong. The leaf shape of L.
fangiana given in the accompanying illustration has
been far from “lanceolate”, but typically oblong. In
the Flora of China 20 – 21 recently published, Liu and
Illarionova[3] have totally accepted the concept of L.
fangiana as construed by Liu[2].
We were informed by a curator of the Botanic
Garden and Botanic Museum Berlin-Dahlem (B),
where the holotype of Ligularia fangiana had been kept,
that the holotype had been destroyed in World War
II. Fortunately, we have been able to trace a duplicate
(Fig. 1) from the Herbarium of Sichuan University
(SZ). This sheet also includes no leaves, but only
a long terminal racemose inflorescence, and this
inflorescence fits perfectly the original description
of L. fangiana. From SZ and the Herbarium of the
Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CDBI) we found a gathering made from
Muli, southwestern Sichuan, China, i.e. Q. S. Zhao
8429 (Fig. 2), which was identified as L. fangiana
by S. W. Liu, the author of the account for the genus
Ligularia in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae
77(2) and a co-author for the genus in the Flora of
China 20 – 21. The gathering includes four well-pressed
sheets, two at SZ and two at CDBI, and they all agree
perfectly with the descriptions and the illustrations of
L. fangiana given in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis
Sinicae 77(2) and Flora of China 20 – 21. Obviously
the descriptions and the illustrations of L. fangiana
in these two floristic works have been based on this
gathering.
Examination of the above-mentioned Zhao’s
gathering against Ligularia melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz.
(Fig. 3), a plant hitherto known only from Muli,
Sichuan, China, has shown that the four sheets are
clearly referable to the species. When describing L.
melanothyrsa, Handel-Mazzetti[1] pointed out that this
species, like L. vellerea (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz., is
characterized by the stem densely long lanate at the
base, but they are very different in other characters
and thus may not be closely related. He also noted
that L. melanothyrsa and L. wilsoniana are very
similar in the inflorescence, but otherwise they may
have nothing to do with each other. He regarded L.
melanothyrsa as a rather isolated species in the genus
Ligularia.
We also have examined the isotype of L. fangiana
(Fig. 1) against L. wilsoniana (Fig. 4) and found no
difference between them in the inflorescence characters.
Judging from the fact that L. wilsoniana occurs also
on Jinfo Shan, Nanchuan, Chongqing, the type locality
of L. fangiana, it can be safely assumed that the
field record on the leaf shape of L. fangiana should
be wrong, and that the character combination of
“lanceolate” leaves and a long terminal racemose
inflorescence like that in L. fangiana should not exist
in nature for the genus Ligularia. We therefore have
no choice but to reduce L. fangiana to the synonymy
under L. wilsoniana.
Ligularia wilsoniana (Hemsl.) Greenm. in Bailey,
Stand. Cycl. Hort. 6: 3153. 1917; Hand.-Mazz. in Bot.
Jahrb. Syst. 69: 138. 1938; S. W. Liu in Fl. Reipubl.
Popularis Sin. 77(2): 58. 1989; S. W. Liu & I. D. Illar.
in Fl. China 20 – 21: 408. 2011. Type: China. Hubei,
Patung (= Badong), A. Henry 2457 (lectotype, here
designated, K!).
L. fangiana Hand.-Mazz. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 69:
124. 1938; S. W. Liu in Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin.
77(2): 84. 1989, quoad typum solum; S. W. Liu & I.
D. Illar. in Fl. China 20 – 21: 401. 2011, quoad typum
solum. syn. nov. Type: China. Chongqing: Nanchuan,
Jinfo Shan, grassy slope, 22 Sept., 1927, W. P. Fang
582 (holotype, B; isotype, SZ!).
Notes. For a fuller citation of literature and
第5期 391
Fig. 1 Ligularia wilsoniana (Hemsl.) Greenm. W. P. Fang 582 (SZ, isotype of L. fangiana Hand.-Mazz.), Chin-fu Shan (= Jinfo Shan), Nanchuan
County, Chongqing, China. Note that the leaves were recorded to be lanceolate, but actually are reniform as shown in Figure 4.
任琛等：中国橐吾属(菊科-千里光族)的分类学研究(二)：植夫橐吾的名实订正
392 第21卷热带亚热带植物学报
Fig. 2 Ligularia melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz. Q. S. Zhao 8429 (CDBI), Baidiao Xiang, Muli County, Sichuan, China. This specimen was previously
misidentified as L. fangiana Hand.-Mazz. The line drawing of L. fangiana in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae 77(2) was very likely based on
this specimen.
第5期 393
Fig. 3 Ligularia melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz. J. F. Rock 16724 (isotype, US), the mountains between the Litang and Yalung Rivers, between Muli
Gomba and Baurong and Wa-Erh-Dje, Muli, Sichuan, China.
任琛等：中国橐吾属(菊科-千里光族)的分类学研究(二)：植夫橐吾的名实订正
394 第21卷热带亚热带植物学报
Fig. 4 Ligularia wilsoniana (Hemsl.) Greenm. J. H. Xiong & Z. L. Zhou 92597 (PE), Jinfo Shan, Nanchuan County, Chongqing, China.
第5期 395
Fig. 5 E. E. Maire s.n. (E, syntype of Senecio iochanensis H. Lév.), Io-chan (= Yao Shan), Qiaojia County, Yunnan, China. The identity of this
specimen has as yet not been determined with certainty.
任琛等：中国橐吾属(菊科-千里光族)的分类学研究(二)：植夫橐吾的名实订正
396 第21卷热带亚热带植物学报
synonyms of Ligularia wilsoniana, see Liu[2] and Liu
and Illarionova[3]. It should be noted that Liu[2] has
correctly cited the name Senecio iochanensis H. Lév.
in synonymy under L. lankongensis (Franch.) Hand.-
Mazz., but wrongly cited it again in synonymy under
L. wilsoniana.
Lauener[4] referred to Ligularia wilsoniana two
unnumbered specimens (Maire s.n., P; both belonging
to the syntypes of Senecio iochanensis) collected from
Io-chan (= Yao Shan), Qiaojia County, northwestern
Yunnan (not Guizhou as given in the collection
information by Lauener[4]), China. We have checked the
two specimens. One of them (Fig. 5) was identified
by C. C. Chang as L. stenocephala (Maxim.) Matsum.
& Koidz., but annotated by Handel-Mazzetti as
representing a new species similar to L. sibirica (L.)
Cass. The two specimens, as noted by Lauener[4], have a
denser inflorescence with shorter pedicels and slightly
coarser leaf-teeth. Although Liu[2] placed Senecio
iochanensis, as mentioned above, in synonymy under
L. wilsoniana, he did not mention the occurrence of
L. wilsoniana in Yunnan. Liu and Illarionova[3] have
also recorded only western Hubei and eastern Sichuan
(now belonging to Chongqing) as the distribution
range of the species. Further studies are needed to
determine the identity of the Yunnan specimens in
question and the occurrence of L. wilsoniana in
northeastern Yunnan.
The identity of Ligularia tenuipes (Franch.) Diels,
a plant described based on a single gathering, Farges
s.n. from Chengkou, Chongqing, China, and hitherto
actually known only from the type material, also needs
to further verify. From the major Chinese herbaria we
have not been able to find any authentic material of
this species, although Chengkou has been very well
botanized, and we also have not as yet been able to
trace its type specimen from the National Natural
History Museum, Paris (P). Handel-Mazzetti[1] pointed
out that L. tenuipes may be related to L. wilsoniana.
We suspect L. tenuipes to be very likely conspecific
with L. wilsoniana.
Additional specimens examined. China.
Chongqing: Chengkou, T. L. Dai 101775 (IBK, PE),
102100 (PE), 107509 (IBK, PE); Nanchuan, J. H.
Xiong & Z. L. Zhou 92597 (IBSC, PE), 93451 (KUN,
PE), G. F. Li 63874 (HIB, KUN, PE), C. Ren & L.
Y. Wang 75 (IBSC); Wulong, J. D. Li 02; Wuxi, G.
H. Yang 58916 (CDBI), 59527 (CDBI, PE). Hubei:
Lichuan, W. C. Cheng & C. T. Hwo 1245 (PE); Zigui,
T. P. Wang 11753 (PE, WUK).
Distribution and habitat. Ligularia wilsoniana
is distributed in eastern and southeastern Chongqing,
western Hubei, China. Its distribution in northeastern
Yunnan, China, needs to verify. The species grows on
grassy slopes and in forests at altitudes of 1600 –
2100 m.
Acknowledgments　　We are grateful to the curators of CDBI, E,
HIB, IBK, KUN, PE, SZ, US, and WUK for the permission to
use their scanned images of specimens and for research facilities.
References
[1]　 Handel-Mazzetti H. Die chinesischen Arten der Gattung Ligularia
[J]. Bot Jahrb Syst, 1938, 69(1): 95–142.
[2]　 Liu S W. Ligularia Cass. [M]// Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae,
Tomus 77(2). Beijing: Science Press, 1989: 4–304.
[3]　 Liu S W, Illarionova I D. Ligularia Cass. [M]// Flora of China,
Vol. 20 – 21. Beijing: Science Press; St. Louis: Missouri Botanical
Garden Press, 2011: 376–415.
[4]　 Lauener L A. Catalogue of the names published by Hector Léveillé:
IX [Compositae] [J]. Notes Roy Bot Gard, 1976, 34(3): 327–402.