AUTHOR=Zheng Xinyi , Qin Kun , Li Tingyu , Qu Tianmeng , Luo Junjia , Zhang Guojin , Li Bo , Li Pan , Fu Zhixi 

TITLE=A new species, Aster yaoshanensis (Asteracae, Astereae), from Guangxi (China), based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic data

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1367917

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1367917

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Aster yaoshanensis sp. nov. (Asteraceae) is described as a species new to science in this article. The new species grows in rock crevices of mountain valleys in Dayaoshan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi autonomous region, China. The molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and whole plastome, showed that the new species was placed in the Aster clade with high support. This new species is morphologically similar to A. jishouensis W.P. Li & S.X. Liu, but it can be easily distinguished from the latter by bract indumentum (glabrous except margin ciliate vs. villous especially on veins abaxially, glabrous adaxially) and color (green vs. purple), shorter corolla (3.2-3.5 mm vs. 4.5-5.3 mm), bract stalk (obvious, ca.1.2 mm vs. sessile), and different distribution (Guangxi vs. Hunan). A detailed description, distribution map, and wild photos are provided, and its morphology was compared with related species. The new species is currently known only from Guangxi, China.