星状山茶 Camellia stellata Orel & CurryCamellia stellata

Camellia stellata Orel & Curry. Section: Furfuraceae, Camellia: Work in Progress,324 (2019), TYPE: Vietnam. Lam Dong Province: slope of an unnamed mountain, Da Lat Plateau, 19/11/2002,G. Orel, R. Cherry, S.Jones, B. Mika, Orel &Curry OC18529P-78(Holotype, NSW).

C. stellata possesses the following morphological characters: mature leaves elliptic to oval, 10.0-15.0 cm long, 5.0-6.0 (-7.0) cm wide; perules 4-6, in 2 incomplete whorls, persistent after anthesis; flowers white, single or in groups of up to 4 flowers, axillary and terminal, 7.0- 8.0 cm diam., sessile, upright; petals 7-9 (-10), arranged in 2 uneven whorls; filaments numerous, 1.3-1.5 cm long; anthers basifixed; styles 2-3, shortly joined at the base, whitely tomentose to almost glabrous, 0.8-1.0 (-1.2) cm long; stigma indistinct, spatulate to disc like; ovary unevenly triangular, shallowly fissured, lobes not prominent, finely tomentose, 0.7-0.8 mm long, 3.0-4.5 mm diam.; mature fruit roughly textured, 3-lobate, 3.0-3.5 (-4.0) cm diam., shortly hairy; mature seed laterally compressed, glabrous, 1.0-1.5 cm diam.

Phenology. The new species was collected in November, which is the main flowering period for this species.

Distribution and habitat. C. stellata Orel & Curry is known from the type location which is situated in the Lam Dong Province, in Southern Viet Nam. Originally misidentified and designed C. furfuracea (Merr.) Cohen Stuart. C. stellata Orel & Curry forms part of the under-story vegetation of the cool to sub-tropical rainforest. C. stellata Orel & Curry tolerates poor, damp soils and low light conditions. The species’ precise provenance details were withheld for conservation reasons.

IUCN Red List category. An unspecified number of adult trees were located in the area around the type locality. No detailed, wider search was undertaken. Given this situation, we consider the IUCN category of Data Deficient (DD) to be appropriate (IUCN 2018).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the star-like shape of mature flowers

Vietnam. Lam Dong Province

星状山茶 Camellia stellata Orel & Curry 组：糙果茶组Furfuraceae。《山茶：工作进展》324 (2019)。越南林同省大叻台地无名山坡，19/11/2002,G. Orel, R. Cherry, S. Jones, B. Mika, Orel & Curry OC18529P-78(主模式, NSW)

成熟叶片椭圆形至卵圆形，长10.0-15.0厘米，宽5.0-6.0（-7.0）厘米；胚珠4-6，2轮不完全排列，花后宿存；花白色，单朵或4朵成群，腋生或顶生，直径7.0-8.0厘米、 花丝多数，长 1.3-1.5 厘米；花药基着；花柱 2-3 ，基部短接，被白色绒毛至几乎无毛，长 0.8-1.0 （-1. 2）厘米长；柱头不清楚，匙形到盘状；子房不均匀三角形，浅裂，裂片不突出，被细绒毛，长0.7-0.8毫米，直径3.0-4.5毫米；成熟果实纹理粗糙，3裂，直径3.0-3.5（-4.0）厘米、 成熟种子侧面压扁，无毛，直径 1.0-1.5 厘米。

物候： 新种采集于 11 月，是本种的主要花期。

分布与生境：C. stellata Orel & Curry 的模式产地位于越南南部的林同省。最初被误认为是 C. furfuracea (Merr.) Cohen Stuart。C. stellata Orel & Curry 是凉爽至亚热带热带雨林林下植被的一部分。C. stellata Orel & Curry 能忍受贫瘠、潮湿的土壤和弱光条件。出于保护原因，该物种的确切产地细节被隐瞒。

世界自然保护联盟红色名录类别。在模式产地周围地区发现了数量不明的成年树。我们没有进行更广泛的详细搜索。鉴于这种情况，我们认为世界自然保护联盟的数据不足（DD）类别是合适的（世界自然保护联盟，2018年）。

词源：特称指成熟花朵的星状形状

越南林同省大叻高原