Chrysosplenium ningqiangense Hong Liu 2026, sp. nov.

Chrysosplenium ningqiangense Hong Liu sp. nov. Fig. 4 Type. China • Shannxi: Ningqiang County, Hanshuiyuan Forest Park, 32°45'2.628"N, 106°11'7.104"E, 1720 m elev, 14 April 2024, Hong Liu LH 2024041401 (holotype, HIB [HIB 0259357] (Fig. 5); isotypes, HIB [HIB 0259359], HIB [HIB 0259358], HIB [HIB 0259360], HIB [HIB 0259361], HSN [HSN 13551], HSN [HSN 13552], HSN [HSN 13553], HSN [HSN 13554]). Diagnosis. C. ningqiangense resembles C. alternifolium, C. serreanum, and C. japonicum but differs in leaf shape, yellow and loose inflorescences, and the absence of stolons, bulbils or bulbs at the stem base. Additionally, its reddish-brown seeds have a tessellate and papillate surface. Description. Perennial herbs. 10–18 cm tall, erect, hermaphroditic. Roots fibrous, diaphanous, without stolons, bulbils or bulbs. Flowering stems 1–2, erect, 10–15 cm long, tetragonal in the cross-section, with about 0.5 mm wide acies, glabrous, light green to green, sometimes sprinkled with red spots, with 1–4 sterile branches arising from the base; sterile branches 1–7 cm long, tender, glabrous. Leaves alternate, basal and cauline, simple, homomorphic, estipulate, petiolate. Basal leaves 3 (2) - 4, petiole 10–25 mm long, base truncate or broadly cuneate, middle and lower parts with sparse white tomentose, blade 5–12 × 7–15 mm, flabelliform or suborbicular. Cauline leaves of flowering stem (s) 1–4, alternate; petiole 10–25 mm long; blade 6–8 × 8–12 mm, flabelliform, abaxially subglabrous, adaxially pubescent, apex obtuse, base truncate or broad cuneate, margins 7–10 crenate, inconspicuous leaf veins. Leaves of sterile branches 3–4, alternate, gradually enlarging from the bottom up, mostly clustered at the top; petiole 5–15 mm long, subglabrous; blade 5–13 × 5–10 mm, flabelliform, flowering subglabrous, adaxially white bristles ca. 1 mm in summer, abaxially glabrous; apex obtuse, base truncate, margins 8–13 crenate, inconspicuous leaf veins. Inflorescence with 4–14 flowers, a loose cyme, surrounded by leaf-like bracts; top view 5–8 cm wide, glabrous. Bracteal leaves bright yellow to greenish-yellow; broadly ovate, obovate to orbicular, glabrous, base broadly cuneate to oblique broadly cuneate, triangularly arranged, one in the middle distinctly larger than the two sides; often in 2–3 whorls, the petiole of the first whorl of bracts 5–8 mm long, blade 5–12 × 4–12 mm, margins crenate (7–11 teeth); the petiole of the second whorl of bracts 2–5 mm long, blade 3–5 × 2–4 mm, margins serrulate (3–5 teeth). Flowers tetramerous, actinomorphic, diameter 2–3 mm; sepals 4 (2 pairs), erect and yellow during flowering, green during fruiting, 2.6–3.9 × 1.8–2.2 mm, ovate, glabrous, apex obtuse to acute; petals absent; stamens 8, biseriate, ca. 2–3 mm long, shorter than sepals; filaments tenuous, erect, ca. 2 mm long; anthers yellow, 2 - locular, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary superior, 2 - locular, zygomorphic; stigmas 2, equal, ca. 2 mm long, as long as filaments. Capsule 2 - lobed, bright green, 5–7 mm × 3–4 mm, glabrous, apex truncate and retuse, both segments equal in size, dehiscing apically at maturity, rostrum ca. 1–2 mm long, with 30–40 seeds per capsule; Seeds reddish-brown, sub-ovoid, with a raised median suture on one side, ca. 550–640 × 350–450 µm and tessellate and papillate surfaces. Distribution and habitat. C. ningqiangense is endemic to Hanshuiyuan Forest Park, Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province, with three populations totalling approximately 300–400 plants. It grows on wet, moss-rich stone walls or ground. Preliminary conservation assessment. C. ningqiangense is preliminarily classified as Endangered (EN B 1 b (v); C 2 a (i)) due to its limited population size and restricted distribution according to the guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2022). Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the type locality, Ningqiang County. Vernacular name. “ 宁强金腰 ” (Ningqiang Jinyao). Phenology. Flowering from mid-March to mid-April; fruiting from mid-April to mid-May.