Burmannia cryptopetala Makino (Burmanniaceae), a Newly Recorded Plant in Taiwan

Abstract

Burmannia comprises ca. 63 species and is one of the largest genera of the Burmanniaceae. Three species were recorded in the 2nd edition of Flora of Taiwan. In the course of our botanical inventory, Burmannia cryptopetala Makino was found in the northern and northeastern Taiwan, representing a new record species on this island. Burmannia cryptopetala is easily distinguished from other congeners by having perianth-tube 3-winged, and inner perianth-lobes lacking or inconspicuous. In this report we provide description, line drawing, and colored photographs taken from the natural habitat to aid in identification.

Full text

Taiwania, 50(4): 302-306, 2005
Burmannia cryptopetala Makino (Burmanniaceae), a Newly
Recorded Plant in Taiwan
Tsai-Wen Hsu(1,2), Ho-Ming Chang(1,3), Sheng-Hsin Su(4), Shih-Wen Chung(5)
and Jenn-Che Wang(3,6)
(Manuscript received 1 August, 2005; accepted 22 September, 2005)
ABSTRACT: Burmannia comprises ca. 63 species and is one of the largest genera of the
Burmanniaceae. Three species were recorded in the 2nd edition of Flora of Taiwan. In the course of
our botanical inventory, Burmannia cryptopetala Makino was found in the northern and northeastern
Taiwan, representing a new record species on this island. Burmannia cryptopetala is easily
distinguished from other congeners by having perianth-tube 3-winged, and inner perianth-lobes
lacking or inconspicuous. In this report we provide description, line drawing, and colored photographs
taken from the natural habitat to aid in identification.
KEY WORDS: Burmanniaceae, Burmannia, Burmannia cryptopetala, New record, Taiwan,
Taxonomy.
INTRODUCTION
The family Burmanniaceae comprises 13 genera and about 130 species (Maas-van de
Kamer, 1998). Taxonomy of the family in Taiwan has been recently revised by Hsu and Leou
(1996), Ohashi and Hsieh (2000), and Hsieh and Ohashi (2000). Two genera and four species
were recorded in Flora of Taiwan, 2nd edition (Ohashi et al., 2000). Lately Yang et al. (2002)
reported Thismia taiwanensis Yang, Saunders & Hsu as a new record genus and a new species
to the flora of Taiwan.
Burmannia L., one of the largest genera of Burmanniaceae, consists of 63 pantropical
species (Maas-van de Kamer, 1998) of which 30 are distributed in Asia and Australia (Jonker,
1938). Ohashi et al. (2000) reported three species from Taiwan, of which B. championii and B.
liukiuensis were newly added during the past decade (Hsieh and Ohashi, 2000; Hsu and Leou,
1996). In the survey of botanical inventory, one additional species, Burmannia cryptopetala
Makino, was found in the north and northeast Taiwan. This taxon represents a new record
species on the island. This study describes the morphology of the species with a line drawing
and photographs.
Key to species of Burmannia in Taiwan
1. Inflorescences capitate; flowers sessile; perianth-tube 3-costate to narrowly 3-winged ………… B. championii
1. Inflorescences solitary or cymous; flowers pedicellate; perianth-tube 3-winged
2. Inner perianth-lobes lacking or inconspicuous; flowers whitish …………………………….. B. cryptopetala
2. Inner perianth-lobes conspicuous
___________________________________________________________________________
1. Endemic Species Research Institute, 1 Ming-Sheng E. Road, Chi-Chi, Nantou 552, Taiwan.
2. Department of Life Science, National Cheng-Kung University, 1 Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
3. Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88 Ting-Chow Road, Sec. 4, Taipei 116,
Taiwan.
4. Fu-Shan Research Center, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, P. O. Box 132, Ilan 260, Taiwan.
5. Division of Forest Biology, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, 53 Nanhai Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
6. Corresponding author. Tel: 886-2-29326234 ext. 229. Fax: 886-2-29312904. Email: biofv017@ntnu.edu.tw

December, 2005 Hsu et al.: Burmannia cryptopetala, new to Taiwan 303
3. Flowers blue or purplish; inner perianth-lobes visible from outside ……………………………... B. itoana
3. Flowers whitish; inner perianth-lobes enclosed within ……………………………………… B. liukiuensis
Burmannia cryptopetala Makino, Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 27: 3. 1913.
透明水玉簪 Figs. 1, 2A & B
Small saprophytic plants. Stem white, 5-7 cm tall, usually unbranched. Cauline leaves
scale-like, alternate, triangular-lanceolate, 3-5 mm. Inflorescences terminal, flower solitary or
2-4 forming dichotomous cymes. Flower sessile or shortly pedicellate. Perianth 3-winged,
wings ca. 1.5 mm wide, narrower in lower part, white, tube 5-8 mm. Outer perianth-lobes 3,
light yellow, ovate, ca. 3 mm, apex acute; inner lobes lacking or very small. Stamens 3,
sessile or subsessile, inserted at throat of corolla, anther connective basally spurless, apical
appendages crested and apically obtuse. Ovary ovoid, 4-5 mm; style 3-4 mm, apically
3-branched; stigma spheroid. Capsule obovoid, with numerous seeds.
Fig. 1. Burmannia cryptopetala Makino. A: Habit. B: Inflorescence. C: Flower. D: Dissected flower. E: Perianth
and stamen. F: Stamen. G: Gynoecium. H: Stigma.

304 TAIWANIA Vol. 50, No. 4
Fig. 2. Burmannia cryptopetala Makino (A & B) and Burmannia liukiuensis Hayata (C & D). A: Habit.
B: Infructescence. C: Habit. D: Inflorescence.
Distribution: Japan and China (Hainan) (Li, 1983). In Taiwan, found in the litter layer of
warm temperate broad-leaved forest dominated by Fagaceae and Lauraceae at low elevations
in the northern and northeastern part.

December, 2005 Hsu et al.: Burmannia cryptopetala, new to Taiwan 305
Specimen examined: TAIWAN. Taipei Co.: Wulai, Yun Hsien Holiday Resort, Chung & Yu 8010 (TAIF).
Ilan Co.: Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Fushan Research Station, Chang 6245 (TNU; TESRI, Taiwan
Endemic Species Research Institute).
Notes: All the Taiwan species of Burmannia are entirely achlorophyllous and clearly
holomycotrophic. The new record B. cryptopetala most closely resembles B. liukiuensis (Figs.
2C & D) among the species of Taiwan. Both species are white and possess conspicuous
3-winged perianth. However, B. liukiuensis has small but conspicuous inner perianth-lobes
which is lacking or inconspicuous in B. cryptopetala.
Geographically, almost all the Taiwan species of Burmannia reveal the distribution pattern
of southern Japan-Taiwan-southern China. Previous documents (Li, 1983; Shimabuku, 1997)
show that B. cryptopetala was disjunctively distributed in southern Japan and southern China
(Hainan). The discovery of this species in Taiwan links the missing gap, as that of B.
championii (Hsieh and Ohashi, 2000).
Most species of Burmannia display restricted and allopatric distribution within Taiwan
except B. itoana which is widespread throughout the island. Burmannia championii only
grows at the low elevations of Lanyu, a tropical small island offshore southeastern Taiwan
(Hsieh and Ohashi, 2000); B. liukiuensis is confined in the bamboo plantation at central part
(Hsu and Leou, 1996); while B. cryptopetala is a lowland species in Fagaceae and Lauraceae
forest at the northern and northeastern Taiwan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are thankful to Messrs. P. F. Lu, and S. K. Yu for their assistance in field work. We
also greatly appreciate Mr. C. T. Lu for line drawing. This work was supported by research
grants from Council of Agriculture, Taiwan.
LITREATURE CITED
Hsieh, T.-H. and H. Ohashi. 2000. A new record of Burmannia championii Thwaites
(Burmanniaceae) in Taiwan. Taiwania 45: 346-350.
Hsu, T.-W. and C.-S. Leou. 1996. Note on the distribution of Burmannia liukiuensis Hayata
in Taiwan. Quart. J. Exp. Forest. Nat. Taiwan Univ. 10: 15-19.
Jonker, F. P. 1938. A monograph of the Burmanniaceae. Meded. Bot. Mus. Rijks-Univ.
Utrecht 51: 1-279.
Li, H. 1983. A preliminary study on the floristic features of the genus Burmannia in China.
Acta Phytotax. Sin. 21: 121-129.
Maas-van de Kamer, H. 1998. Burmanniaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. et al. (eds.), The Families and
Genera of Vascular Plants. 3: 154-164. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
Ohashi, H. and T.-H. Hsieh. 2000. Identity of Burmannia nana Fukuy. and T. Suzuki, a
species of Burmanniaceae endemic to Taiwan. Taiwania 45: 340-345.
Ohashi, H., C.-S. Leou and T.-H. Hsieh. 2000. Burmanniaceae. In: Huang T.-C. et al. (eds.),
Flora of Taiwan, 2nd ed. 5: 141-144. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Taipei,
Taiwan.
Shimabuku, K. 1997. Check list vascular flora of the Ryukyu Islands. Revised edition. pp.
621-622. Kyusyu Univ. Press, Kyusyu, Japan.
Yang, S.-Z., R. M. K. Saunders and C.-J. Hsu. 2002. Thismia taiwanensis sp. nov.
(Burmanniaceae tribe Thismieae): first record of the tribe in China. Syst. Bot. 27:
485-488.

306 TAIWANIA Vol. 50, No. 4
台灣水玉簪科的新紀錄植物－透明水玉簪
許再文(1,2)、張和明(1,3)、蘇聲欣(4)、鐘詩文(5)、王震哲(3,6)
(收稿日期：2005 年8月1日；接受日期：2005 年9月22 日)
摘 要
水玉簪屬為水玉簪科植物中最大的一個屬，包含有約 63 種，台灣植物誌第二版紀
錄有 3種，最近我們在北部與東北部植物調查時發現另一新紀錄植物－透明水玉簪
(Burmannia cryptopetala Makino)，該植物以其花被筒具 3翅，內花被缺或極不顯著而不
同於台灣所產該屬的其他植物，本文提供該種的形態描述、形態描繪圖與彩色圖片。
關鍵詞：水玉簪科、水玉簪屬、透明水玉簪、新紀錄、台灣、分類。
___________________________________________________________________________
1. 行政院農業委員會特有生物研究保育中心，南投縣 552 集集鎮民生東路 1號，台灣。
2. 國立成功大學生命科學系，台南市 701 大學路 1號，台灣。
3. 國立台灣師範大學生命科學系，台北市 116 汀州路 4段88 號，台灣。
4. 行政院農業委員會林業試驗所福山研究中心，260 宜蘭郵政 132 號信箱。
5. 行政院農業委員會林業試驗所森林生物組，台北市100南海路53號，台灣。
6. 通信作者。Tel: 886-2-29326234 ext. 229. Fax: 886-2-29312904. Email: biofv017@ntnu.edu.tw