Potentilla tuberculifera, a New Species of Rosaceae from Hubei, China

Abstract

The new species Potentilla tuberculifera J. Z. Dong (Rosaceae) is described and illustrated from Guangshui, China. It differs from P. freyniana Bornm. in being an indeciduous herb with winter leaves 1.5 × 1.3 cm with a deeply red abaxial surface, and summer leaves green and 4–6.5 × 6–8.5 cm; in having long, red, procumbent stolons, bearing a short branch at each node whose terminal expands into a tubercle with adventitious roots; and in reproducing mostly asexually by tubercles, with matured achenes zero to three per fruit. This new species is considered to be endangered because of its narrow range and limited ability to reproduce.