全 文 ：热带亚热带植物学报　2015， 23(6)： 625 ~ 631
Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Botany
Received: 2014–12–19　　　　Accepted: 2015–02–09
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470303) and the Science and Technology Basic Work (2013FY112100).
* Corresponding author. E-mail: qeyang@scib.ac.cn
中国毛茛科翠雀属的分类学研究(八)：短尾翠雀花
的名实订正
袁琼, 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： 发现近来根据云南西北部丽江标本描述的毛茛科短尾翠雀花(Delphinium brachyurum W. T. Wang)与此前根据该地标本
描述的丽江翠雀花(D. likiangense Franch.)属于同一种植物，故将前者处理为后者的异名。
关键词： 翠雀属； 毛茛科； 分类学
doi: 10.11926/j.issn.1005–3395.2015.06.003
Taxonomic Studies on the Genus Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) from
China (VIII): The Identity of D. brachyurum
YUAN Qiong, YANG Qin-er*
(Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guangzhou 510650, China)
Abstract: Delphinium brachyurum W. T. Wang (Ranunculacae) recently described from Lijiang, northwestern
Yunnan, China, is found to be conspecific with D. likiangense Franch., a species also described from Lijiang. We
therefore reduce the former to the synonymy of the latter.
Key words: Delphinium; Ranunculaceae; Taxonomy
In 2014, Wang[1] described Delphinium brach-
yurum W. T. Wang (Ranunculaceae) on the basis of
a single specimen, C. J. Chen 92503 (PE; Fig. 1: A),
from Lijiang, northwestern Yunnan, China. In the
protologue, he stated that the species belonged to
subsection Brevicalcarata Huth under section Elatopsis
Huth by the racemose inflorescence, short spur of
the upper sepal, and brown staminodes, but was
distinguishable from all the other Chinese species of
the subsection by having the elongated rhizome, basal
leaves ca. 5 with the segments dissected, scape 1, and
petals dorsiventrally compressed and trinerved.
Lijiang in northwestern Yunnan is a very well
botanized area. Many Chinese and western botanists or
plant collectors, such as R. C. Ching, J. M. Delavay,
K. M. Feng, G. Forrest, H. Handel-Mazzetti, J. F.
Rock, and T. T. Yu, to mention only a few, once made
plant collecting there. The description of such a
remarkable species with showy flowers as Delphinium
brachyurum from that area caught our attention. Much
to our disappointment, however, a glimpse of its type
specimen has immediately convinced us that it is not
a new species, but undoubtedly conspecific with D.
likiangense Franch. (PE; Figs. 2–5), a species also
described from Lijiang[2]. Delphinium likiangense is a
very distinct species within subsection Ceratophora
626 第23卷热带亚热带植物学报
W. T. Wang under section Delphinastrum DC.[3]
by having dissected leaves and large flowers with
the spur quite short. Furthermore, the position of
bracteoles is fairly stable in this species and thus
very helpful for its recognition. The two narrowly
ovate or oblong-ovate bracteoles are usually placed
just below the sepals. This character is clearly shown
in the accompanying illustration of D. brachyurum
(Fig. 1: B). In the number of basal leaves and scapes,
however, D. likiangense is highly variable (Figs. 3–4),
and thus these two characters are not diagnostically
reliable for the species.
It is worth mentioning that the holotype specimen
of Delphinium brachyurum is rather depauperate,
with all the flowers seriously broken (Fig. 1: A), and
that the flower structure was not correctly represented
in the accompanying illustration. The flowers shown
in the illustration (Fig. 1: B) appear to be nearly
actinomorphic with the upper sepal not spurred.
It is also to be noted that the type locality infor-
mation of Delphinium brachyurum given on the field
label of the holotype sheet and in the protologue
is not accurate. The small collection locality of the
type specimen given on the field label, Xiang Shan
(literally meaning “Elephant Mountain”, as it looks
like an elephant), is actually a rather small hill with an
altitude of only 2600 m (not 3400–3600 m as recorded
on the field label) situated just beside the county town
of Lijiang. It is out of the question for a species like
D. brachyurum (= D. likiangense) to grow in such
a strongly disturbed place with highly secondary
habitat. We were informed by a curator in PE that the
whole batch of specimens collected by Prof. Chia-jui
Chen from northwestern Yunnan in 1992, including
the type specimen of D. brachyurum, had been placed
in his office for many years before he sent them to the
PE Herbarium for permanent conservation, and the
field records provided by him for all these specimens
were badly incomplete. Judging from the other ample
herbarium material of D. likiangense from Lijiang,
it can be safely assumed that the holotype specimen
of D. brachyurum must have been collected from
the eastern slope of Yulong Shan ca. 18 km north of
the county town of Lijiang, a mountain botanically
most interesting with an altitude of 5596 m. On this
mountain D. likiangense often grows in open grassy
or gravelly places at altitudes of 3400–4200 m. In our
field work of 2003 in Lijiang we found that the plants
of this species, particularly those growing on gravelly
slopes, are usually provided with a strongly elongated
rhizome. In fact, as pointed out by Xu et al.[4], a highly
developed root system is one of the most salient
features shared by many alpine perennials occurring
in the Hengduan Mountains region in southwestern
China. Delphinium likiangense, as a typically alpine
perennial herb, is no exception.
Based on the above analyses we deem it justifi-
able to reduce Delphinium brachyurum to the synonymy
of D. likiangense.
Delphinium likiangense Franch. in Bull. Soc.
Philom. Paris, sér. 8, 5: 180. 1893; Finet & Gagnep.
in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 51: 490. 1904; Hand.-Mazz.,
Symb. Sin. 7: 276. 1931; W. T. Wang in Acta. Bot.
Sin. 10: 155. 1962; Munz in J. Arn. Arb. 49: 75.
1968; W. T. Wang in Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 27:
441. 1979; et in Vas. Pl. Hengduan Mount. 1: 491.
1993; et in Fl. Yunnan. 11: 140. 2000; W. T. Wang &
Warnock in Fl. China 6: 266. 2001; Q. Yuan & Q. E.
Yang in Acta Phytotax. Sin. 41: 559. 2003. —— D.
oliganthum Franch., Pl. Delav. 29. 1889, non Boiss.
(1867). Type: China. Yunnan: Likiang (=Lijiang),
Likiang Suee-chan (=Lijiang Xue Shan), calcareous
hills, 4000 m, Aug. 14, 1886, J. M. Delavay 2201
(lectotype, here designated, P!, P00198675; isolecto-
type, P!, P00198728).
D. brachyurum W. T. Wang in Plant Divers.
Resours. 36: 788. 2014. syn. nov. Type: China.
Yunnan: Lijiang, 3400–3600 m (?), Oct. 1, 1992, C. J.
Chen 92503 (holotype, PE!).
Notes. Morphologically quite distinct and geo-
graphically rather restricted (largely occurring in
Yulong Shan in Lijiang, rarely in the closely conti-
guous Haba Shan in Zhongdian), Delphinium likiang-
ense is an easily recognizable species. Munz, an
American taxonomist, made many misidentifications
第6期 627
Fig. 1 Delphinium likiangense. A: C. J. Chen 92503 (holotype of D. brachyurum, PE), Lijiang, Yunnan, China; B: Accompanying illustration of D.
brachyurum[1].
Fig. 2 Type specimens of Delphinium likiangense. A: J. M. Delavay 2201 (lectotype, P), Lijiang, Yunnan, China; B: J. M. Delavay 2201(isolectotype, P).
袁琼等：中国毛茛科翠雀属的分类学研究(八)：短尾翠雀花的名实订正
628 第23卷热带亚热带植物学报
Fig. 3 Specimens of Delphinium likiangense, all from Lijiang, Yunnan, China. A: R. C. Ching 30970 (KUN); B: S. W. Yu 64074 (KUN); C: T. T. Yu
15417 (KUN); D: K. M. Feng 21262 (KUN).
第6期 629
Fig. 4 Specimens of Delphinium likiangense, all from Lijiang, Yunnan, China. A–D: Q. E. Yang & Q. Yuan 174 (PE).
袁琼等：中国毛茛科翠雀属的分类学研究(八)：短尾翠雀花的名实订正
630 第23卷热带亚热带植物学报
of the Chinese Delphinium L. in his paper “A synopsis
of the Asian species of Delphinium, sensu stricto” [5–7]
(see Wang[8] and Yuan and Yang[9] for the details), but
we found his identification of the specimens of D.
likiangense has been basically correct. This species
may be somewhat related to D. thibeticum Finet &
Gagnep., but differs from it immediately by the much
larger flowers with the spur quite short.
It is worth mentioning that Wang[8,10], in 1986
and 1997 respectively, described both Delphinium
yulungshanicum W. T. Wang and D. grandilimbum W.
T. Wang & M. J. Warnock from Yulong Shan, which
we have reduced to the synonymy of D. coleopodum
Hand.-Mazz.[11], a species currently known only
from that mountain. To our current knowledge,
there occur 11 Delphinium species in the Yulong
Shan area, including D. beesianum W. W. Smith,
D. bulleyanum Forrest ex Diels, D. ceratophorum
Franch., D. coleopodum, D. delavayi Franch., D.
forrestii Diels, D. likiangense, D. mosoynense Franch.
[= D. grandiflorum L. var. mosoynense (Franch.)
Huth], D. pogonanthum Hand.-Mazz. [= D. delavayi
var. pogonanthum (Hand.-Mazz.) W. T. Wang], D.
taliense Franch., and D. thibeticum Finet & Gagnep.
Interestingly, these taxa usually grow at more or less
different elevations on the mountain, although some
of them, such as D. coleopodum and D. delavayi, are
often found to grow together in one community.
Additional specimens examined. Yunnan: Li-
jiang, R. C. Ching 30572 (KUN, PE), 30970 (KUN),
K. M. Feng 21262 (KUN, PE), Forest. Inst. L01166
(KUN), G. Forrest 2903 (K), 6483 (BM, IBSC, K,
P), 6533 (K), 6540 (BM, IBSC, K, P), 6634 (BM, K,
P, PE), 11052 (BM, K, PE), 11203 (BM, PE), 11360
(BM, PE), 15140 (BM, P), 16949 (BM), 22291 (K, PE),
30016 (BM, PE), 30673 (PE), H. Handel-Mazzetti
4098 (IBSC), H. Ohba et al. 774 (KUN), 844 (KUN),
1055 (KUN), J. F. Rock 10409 (P), 10665 (P, the right
specimen only, the left one belonging to Delphinium
beesianum), 24914 (BM, IBSC, K, NAS), 24920 (BM,
IBSC, K, KUN, NAS), C. Schneider 2121 (K), 2928
(K), 3251 (K), Southwest Union Univ. 21600 (KUN),
Q. E. Yang & Q. Yuan174 (PE), S. W. Yu 64-074 (KUN),
T. T. Yu 15417 (KUN, PE), Yunnan Univ. Yulong
Shan Veg. Exped. 00627 (IBSC, KUN); Zhongdian,
Zhongdian Exped. 1799 (KUN), 2083 (HIB, KUN, PE).
Distribution and habitat.　Delphinium likiang-
ense is distributed in northwestern Yunnan (Yulong
Fig. 5 Delphinium likiangense in the wild. A: Habit; B: Portion of inflorescence. Photographed by Qiong Yuan from Lijiang, Yunnan, China.
第6期 631
Shan in Lijiang, Haba Shan in Zhongdian), China
(Fig. 6). It grows on open grassy or gravelly slopes at
altitudes of (3000–) 3400–4200 m.
Fig. 6 Distribution of Delphinium likiangense (●).
Acknowledgments　　We are grateful to an anonymous
reviewer for the invaluable comments on the manuscript, and
to the curators of BM, HIB, IBSC, K, KUN, NAS, P, and PE
for the permission to use their scanned images of specimens
and for research facilities. We thank Dr. You-sheng Chen (PE)
for his companionship and assistance with field work and for
sending us a photograph of the type specimen of Delphinium
brachyurum.
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袁琼等：中国毛茛科翠雀属的分类学研究(八)：短尾翠雀花的名实订正