Researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently reported a new species of Ardisia, A. chimingiana, in the journal Annales Botanici Fennici. 

 

The new species was collected from low altitudes in Yunnan and had been misidentified as A. solanacea and A. polycephala due to similarities in leaf and inflorescence morphology. Through morphological observations and measurements, the researchers confirmed it as a new species and named it after Prof. Hu Chiming, honoring his contributions to Ardisia taxonomy in China and Southeast Asia. 

 

A. chimingiana is distinguished by its glandular leaf margins, umbellate racemose inflorescences, and dextrorsely imbricate calyx lobes. It is only known from the type locality in Yunnan, growing near dense evergreen forests and along riverbanks at elevations around 580 meters.