梁氏金花茶 Camellia luongii Ninh & LeCamellia luongii

Camellia luongii Ninh & Le. First published in Int. Camellia J. 47: 36 (2015). Subgenus Thea, Section Chrysantha.

TYPE: Vietnam, Province of Thai Nguyen, Dinh Hoa district, 05 Feb. 2015. Collector: Le Nguyet Hai Ninh. Coordinates: detail on Type specimen. Elevation: 263m. Holotype: HN 06215 (HNM). 

Shrubs 1.5 m high, mostly regeneration, trunk 3-10 cm in diameter; young branches yellow-brown, glabrous; older branches pale brown, glabrous. Leaf stalked; blades from broad elliptic (lower), 16.5-19.5 cm long and 10.7–11.5 cm wide, base rounded, apex shortly acuminate 3-5 mm long, sometime obtuse, to elliptic to narrowly elliptic (upper), 16.0-19.5 cm long, 7.0-9.0 cm wide, base cuneate, apex caudate 10 mm, rarely blades nearly ovate, minutely denticulate, closely at the upper part and apex, obscurely at the base, teeth 1-3 mm apart, coriaceous, glabrous, shining and deep green above, glabrous, yellowish green with minutely dark verruculose below, young leaves upper surface yellow-brown, lower surface yellow-brown pale purple, glabrous, lateral veins impressed above, prominent below, 11-13 pairs; petioles 9-15 mm long, glabrous. Flowers pedicellate, solitary at the ends of branches or axillary, about 5 cm in diameter. Pedicel 15 mm long, glabrous, bearing 7 bracteoles opposite and scattered along the pedicel; bracteoles broad triangular, lowermost 4 mm wide and 1.5mm high, uppermost 10 mm wide and 4 mm high, glabrous on the back, white, minutely and scattered ciliolate, finely white puberulous on the face; sepals 5, broad triangular with rounded apex to suborbicular transitional to outermost petals, 7-12 mm high and 12-16 mm wide, yellowish green, glabrous on the back, white and scattered ciliolate, yellow like petals on the face with white and scattered puberulous (lowermost) or subglabrous or glabrous (uppermost). Corolla light yellow, of about 12 petals, glabrous, from suborbicular, concave, 18-25 mm long and 15-16 mm wide (outermost), to broad elliptic, 30 mm long and 17 mm wide, to very narrowly elliptic, curved out, 33-40 mm long and 15-13 mm wide (innermost), outer petals 1-7 united for 1-5 mm at the base, remaining petals united with androecium 5-6 mm at the base. Androecium about 24 mm long, outer filaments united for 15-16 mm from the base and forming a fleshy tube, filaments 20-28mm long, innermost filaments about 16 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2-3mm long. Gynoecium about 27 mm long, glabrous; ovary about 3 mm high and 3 mm in diameter, 3-locular; styles 3, free to the base, about 24 mm long. Fruits in formation. Seeds not seen.

Distribution: Dinh Hoa district, province of Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Phenology: grows on the red-soil mountain terrain, high density. Altitude: 200-700 m. Flowers in the months from December to February. Fruits begin forming from February.

Etymology: The specific epithet honors Dr. To Buu Luong, who has brought together Vietnamese and Japanese camellia lovers, and has supported the field research of the author.

As noted above, this species resembles C. hakodae in leaf morphology, but it differs in leaf size, pairs of lateral veins, number and characteristics of bracteoles, petals and gynoecium (C. hakodae has larger leaves ‘23.5-29cm long and 9-11.5cm wide’, ‘lateral veins 12-16 pairs’, ‘bracteoles 5-6’, petals pubescent, styles 4-5). It also differs from other species having 3 capels in the gynoecium, glabrous styles, such as C. euphlebia, C. phanii. Specifically, C. euphlebia has shorter pedicel ‘about 5mm long’, puberulous petals; C. phanii has ‘lateral vein 8-10 pairs’, petals ‘pubescent on both side’, filaments ‘pubescent at the base’.

According to locals, this species grew very densly over the mountains at one time, but few people were interested in these plants. However, from 2011 up to the present, all young and adult flower-buds, dried flowers, fruits and seeds of this species have been exploited for sale, while branches have been cut to provide propagation material for garden plants. Therefore the remaining wild trees are mainly regenerated from the original plant. Moreover, the status of the remaining trees is not good. They are covered by the large trees that were felled when people cleared the soil to prepare for industrial crops.

Vietnam, Province of Thai Nguyen, Dinh Hoa district

梁氏金花茶 Camellia luongii Ninh & Le. First published in Int. Camellia J. 47: 36 (2015). Subgenus Thea, Section Chrysantha.

灌木，高1.5米，多数再生，树干直径3-10厘米；幼枝黄褐色，无毛；老枝淡褐色，无毛。 叶柄；叶片从宽椭圆形（下部），16.5-19.5厘米长，10.7-11.5厘米宽，基部圆形，先端短渐尖3-5毫米长，有时钝，到椭圆形到狭椭圆形（上部），16.0-19.5厘米长，7.0-9.0厘米宽，基部楔形，先端尾状10毫米，很少叶片近卵形，有微小细齿，上部和先端紧密，基部不明显，齿相距1-3毫米，革质，无毛，上面光亮深绿色，下面无毛，黄绿色，有微小深色瘤状突起，幼叶上表面黄褐色，下表面黄褐色浅紫色，无毛，侧脉上面凹陷，下面突出，11-13对； 叶柄长 9-15 毫米，无毛。 花有花梗，单生于枝条末端或腋生，直径约 5 厘米。 花梗长 15 毫米，无毛，有 7 个小苞片对生，沿花梗散生；小苞片宽三角形，最下宽 4 毫米，高 1.5 毫米高，最上部宽 10 毫米，高 4 毫米，背面无毛，正面白色，微小而散生具短缘毛，被细白色微柔毛； 萼片 5，宽三角形，先端圆形到近圆形，过渡到最外层的花瓣，高 7-12 毫米，宽 12-16 毫米，黄绿色，背面无毛，白色和散生具短缘毛，黄色的花瓣表面有白色和散生微柔毛（最下层）或近无毛或无毛（最上层）。 花冠淡黄色，约有 12 片花瓣，无毛，从近圆形、凹形、长 18-25 毫米、宽 15-16 毫米（最外侧），到宽椭圆形、长 30 毫米、宽 17 毫米，再到狭椭圆形、向外弯曲、长 33-40 毫米、宽 15-13 毫米（最内侧），外侧花瓣 1-7 片在基部 1-5 毫米处合在一起，其余花瓣在基部 5-6 毫米处与雄蕊群合在一起。 雄蕊群长约 24 毫米，外花丝在距基部 15-16 毫米处合生，形成肉质筒状，花丝长 20-28 毫米，最内侧的花丝长约 16 毫米，无毛；花药长 2-3 毫米。 雌蕊群长约27毫米，无毛；子房高约3毫米，直径约3毫米，3室；花柱3，离生至基部，长约24毫米。 果实正在形成。 未见种子。

分布： 越南太原省Dinh Hoa地区。

物候：生长在红壤山地，密度高。 海拔：200-700 米。花期：12 月至次年 2 月。 果实从二月开始形成。

词源： 这个种加词是为了纪念 To Buu Luong 博士，他将越南和日本的山茶花爱好者聚集在一起，并支持了作者的实地研究。

如上所述，该物种在叶片形态上与 C. hakodae 相似，但在叶片大小、侧脉对数、小苞片、花瓣和雌蕊群的数量和特征上有所不同（C. hakodae 的叶片较大，"长 23.5-29 厘米，宽 9-11.5 厘米"，"侧脉 12-16 对"，"小苞片 5-6 个"，花瓣短柔毛，花柱 4-5 个）。 它还不同于雌蕊群中有 3 个头状花序、花柱无毛的其他物种，如 C. euphlebia 和 C. phanii。 具体来说，C. euphlebia 的花梗较短，"长约 5 毫米"，花瓣被微柔毛；C. phanii 的 "侧脉 8-10 对"，花瓣 "两侧被短柔毛"，花丝 "基部被短柔毛"。

据当地人说，这种植物曾一度在山上生长得非常茂密，但很少有人对这些植物感兴趣。 然而，从 2011 年至今，该树种的所有幼年和成年花蕾、干花、果实和种子都被开发出售，树枝也被砍伐，为园林植物提供繁殖材料。 因此，剩余的野生树木主要是从原植物再生而来。 此外，残存树木的状况也不容乐观。 它们被大树覆盖，这些大树是人们为种植工业作物而开垦土壤时砍伐的。

越南太原省Dinh Hoa地区