New Veronicastrum species discovered in Wuling Mountains, central China's Hubei Province

Combo photo shows morphological characteristics of Veronicastrum wulingense. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Researchers from the Wuhan Botanical Garden affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) discovered a new Veronicastrum species inside the Pingbaying National Forest Park in the Wuling Mountains located in the southwestern part of central China's Hubei Province, naming it Veronicastrum wulingense.

The plant is the first species belonging to Veronicastrum discovered and named by the research team, as well as the only finding of a new species belonging to Veronicastrum published in the Chinese mainland over the past nearly 40 years.

The discovery reflects the diversity of the habitat in the Wuling Mountains, and is of great significance to the study of speciation, evolution and biogeography of Veronicastrum in East Asia.

Photo shows a Veronicastrum wulingense plant, a newly discovered species inside the Pingbaying National Forest Park in the Wuling Mountains in the southwestern part of central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Hu Guangwan)

During a field survey of plant resources in the Pingbaying National Forest Park in June 2021, the research team, led by Hu Guangwan from the Wuhan Botanical Garden, discovered plants of an unknown flowering species of Veronicastrum. After carrying out research on the plant samples, they identified the plant as a new species of Veronicastrum and named it Veronicastrum wulingense.

The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Botanical Studies.

Photo shows a Veronicastrum wulingense plant, a newly discovered species inside the Pingbaying National Forest Park in the Wuling Mountains in the southwestern part of central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Hu Guangwan)

The research team explained that currently, only two communities of Veronicastrum wulingense have been discovered in the Wuling Mountains, and the total population of the species is small. They called for efforts to strengthen protection of the Veronicastrum wulingense resources and expand the population of the species.