Hemiboea chanii (Gesneriaceae), a new species from limestone areas of northern Vietnam

Abstract

Hemiboea chanii, a new species of Gesneriaceae from Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam, is here described and illustrated. It has many branched stems, diamond-shaped involucre with two cirrose opposite apices, a pink corolla, red spotted inside, and a flowering time in January-February. Among congeners with an externally hairy corolla, this new species is morphologically close to H. crystallina and H. sinovietnamica. Diagnostic discriminative characters in all mentioned species are discussed. The conservation status of this species is considered to be “Critically endangered” (CR) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.