Microtropis gulinqingensis, a new dioecious species of Celastraceae from China

• DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.668.3.9
• Publication Date: 2024-10-15T22:19:01Z
• Authors: QING HUANG; LING LYU; CHONG YANG; WEN-HONG CHEN; CHANG-LI FAN; JIN-GUO ZHANG; YU-MIN SHUI

A new species of Celastraceae, Microtropis gulinqingensis, is discovered in the dynamic plot of Gulinqing Provincial Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, China. After two-year observations of 65 individual plants in the field, we found that this species presented unique traits of being dioecious and having highly connate petals in its male flowers. We compared it with similar species and those in Microtropis distributed across the adjacent regions, and the morphological evidence supports the recognition of Microtropis gulinqingensis as a new species. A comprehensive description and photographs of this new species are provided.