樱桃管蕊茶 Camellia pyriformis T.S.Hoang & T.N.BonCamellia pyriformis

Camellia pyriformis T.S.Hoang & T.N.Bon. First published in Dalat Univ. J. Sci. 14(1): 14 (2024 publ. 2023). Sect. Calpandria

Type: VIETNAM. Bac Giang Province, Luc Nam District, Luc Son Commune. Primary broad-leaved evergreen at an elevation of 470 m above sea level. 1 Nov. 2021, Hoang Thanh Son, Trinh Ngoc Bon, DL211201 (holotype, isotype DLU). The specimen was first discovered by Hoang Thanh Son and Trinh Ngoc Bon in 2021 in Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province. In 2023, the group of authors Trinh Ngoc Bon, Le Van Quang, and Hoang Thanh Son published in the Dalat University Journal of Science with the scientific name Camellia pyriformis, the Vietnamese name is Cherry Tea because of the fruit shape of the cherry variety.

Young branches villous; leaves above pubescent, a long midrib, below pubescent; petiole falcate, densely villous; flowers solitary or geminate; pedicel very short, pubescent; bracteoles sparsely pubescent on both sides; sepals, pubescent on both sides; petals, white, glabrous; androecium 5–6 stamens, filaments completely united to form a truncated cone, glabrous, basal adnate to the petal, shallowly dentate at the apex, each filament bearing an anther; gynoecium 3-locular, densely white silky strigose tomentose, styles glabrous; capsule pyriform, pubescent; seed broad pyriform, densely villous.

Phenology: Flowers from August to October; fruits from November to December. 

IUCN: Camellia pyriformis is known from two populations of less than 50 individuals that occupy an area of less than 1 hectare, growing under the canopy of mixed bamboo and wood forest along rivers at an elevation of 140–470 m. This area has not yet been protected and is threatened by deforestation and agricultural expansion. Therefore, C.pyriformis is accessed as Critically Endangered (CR) according to the IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2019)

Etymology: The specific epithet comes from its characteristic pyriform capsule.

Note: The new species has many characteristics of section Calpandria such as flowers solitary or geminate, axillary; bracteoles 2–3, scales to orbicular, persistent; sepals 4–5, suborbicular, persistent; petals 6–7, free to the base, obovate to, united with filament tube at the base. Androecium 5 stamens, filaments completely united to form a fleshy tube, basal adnate to the petal, shallowly dentate at the apex, each filament bearing an anther. Gynoecium 3-locular, ovary superior; styles stout, 3-fide. Therefore, the new species is classified into section Calpandria. Prior to this article, section Calpandria included a total of 4 species worldwide, namely, C. connata, C. lanceolata, C. kirinoi, and C. luteocalpandria. The new species is similar to C. connata and C. lanceolata by flower white, filaments completely united, ovary 3, pubescent, style united but differs from C. connata by perules pubescent (vs. perules glabrous), and from C. lanceolata by petals glabrous on both sides (vs. petals tomentose or velutinous). The new species is similar to C. kirinoi and C. luteocalpandria by filaments completely united, ovary 3, pubescent, style united but differs from C. kirinoi by flower white, stamens 5–6, style glabrous (vs. flower light yellow, stamens 20–22, style tomentose) and from Camellia luteocalpandria by flower white, and capsule broad pyriform (vs. flower yellow, capsule oblate or subglobose). 

樱桃山茶 Camellia pyriformis T.S.Hoang & T.N.Bon

该标本由 Hoang Thanh Son 和 Trinh Ngoc Bon 于 2021 年在北江省鹿南县首次发现。2023 年，由 Trinh Ngoc Bon、Le Van Quang 和 Hoang Thanh Son 组成的作者小组在《大叻大学科学杂志》（Dalat University Journal of Science）上发表了学名为 Camellia pyriformis 的文章，越南语名称为 Cherry Tea，这是因为樱桃品种的果实形状。

幼枝被长柔毛；叶片上面被短柔毛，中脉很长，下面被短柔毛；叶柄镰刀形，密被长柔毛；花单生或双生；花梗很短，被短柔毛；小苞片两面疏生短柔毛；萼片，两面被短柔毛；花瓣，白色，无毛； 雄蕊 5-6 枚，花丝完全合生形成一个截短的圆锥体，无毛，基部贴生于花瓣，先端有浅齿，每根花丝着生花药；雌蕊群 3 室，密被白色绢状糙伏毛，花柱无毛；蒴果梨形，被短柔毛；种子宽梨形，密被长柔毛。