Ardisia crenata Complex (Primulaceae) Studies Using Morphological and Molecular Data

Abstract

Ardisia crenata Sims was a member of Myrsinaceae family in classical taxonomy view, but in the system of APG III (2009), it is included in the expanded family of Primulaceae and the primary Myrsinaceae family does not exist. This evergreen shrub is the most widely distributed species of Ardisia, occurring from Japan to Tibet, the Philippine Islands, and southern Asia where it is labelled as medicinal plant (Kobayashi & Mej’ia, 2005) and cultivated as a garden plant (Conover et al., 1989; Lee, 1998). Since A. crenata displays a high variability, its identification and species status frequently be confused. This complex includes four species and one variety (Ardisia crenata Sims, A. hanceana Mez, A. lindleyana D. Dietr., A. linangensis C. M. Hu, A. crenata var. bicolor (E. Walker) C. Y. Wu & C. Chen ), They all belong to the subgenus Crispardisia of Ardisia. They have the same characters including inflorescences terminal, with leaf marginal nodules, 5 ovules in one series on the placenta. However, the five taxa also have some characters that could be indentified. There is some controversy between different researchers. Walker (1940) pointed out that A. hanceana is closely related to A. crenata, from which it may be distinguished by its larger flowers and usually by the lack of raised-punctate glands on the lower surface of the leaves. A. hanceana, A. crenata and A. lindleyana are very similar, the first one differ from A. crenata by the larger (6-7mm vs. 4-6mm) flowers, sepal ovate and differ from the last one by the marginal veins near the margin, more lateral veins (12-18 pairs vs. 8-12 pairs) (Chen, 1979). A. linangensis was first published by Hu (1992), he noted that this species differs from A. hanceana by the black-punctate flowers and by the not scalloped leaves and it is more closely allied to A. tsangii Walker, but can be easily distinguished by its glabrous and more corymbose inflorescence and by having more (3-8) leaves on the flowering branches. However, A. tsangii was treated as the synonym of A. lindleyana and A. linangensis was treated as the synonym of A. crenata in Flora of China (Chen & Pipoly, 1996). Ardisia bicolor was first