Geum sunhangii - first discovered in Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China - is described as a new species of Rosaceae. Compared to all known Chinese Geum species, the new species differs by possessing jointed styles, imbricate petals and a reniform radical leaf terminal leaflet. Most significantly, the jointed style is curved at an obtuse or a right angle. In addition, the inclusion of this species within the genus Geum was supported by phylogenetic analysis using the sequence data of a nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and a chloroplast trnL-trnF intergenic spacer. The new species was found to be closely related to G. rivale and G. aleppicum.
Keywords: anatomical; morphology; phylogeny; taxonomy.
Zhen-Yu Lv, Dai-Gui Zhang, Xian-Han Huang, Heng-Chang Wang, Jing-Yuan Yang, Komiljon Tojibaev, Tao Deng, Zhi-Min Li.