台湾岩扇 tai wan yan shan

Schizocodon rotundifolius Maximowicz, Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 32: 497. 1888; Sherwoodia rotundifolia (Maximowicz) House; Shortia exappendiculata Hayata; S. ritoensis Hayata; S. rotundifolia var. ritoensis (Hayata) T. C. Huang & A. Hsiao; S. rotundifolia var. subcordata (Hayata) T. C. Huang & A. Hsiao; S. rotundifolia var. transalpina (Hayata) Yamazaki; S. subcordata Hayata; S. transalpina Hayata; Shortiopsis exappendiculata (Hayata) Hayata.

Perennial herb, 3–17 cm tall. Rhizome prostrate, woody, apical part branched and ascending. Leaves radical, tufted; peti- ole slender, (2–)4–9(–11) cm; leaf blade orbiculate, orbiculate-elliptic, or ovate, variable even on same plant, (0.5–)1.5–5 × (0.3–)1.5–5.5 cm, thinly leathery, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, base truncate, subcordate, or attenuate and shortly decurrent into petiole, margin apiculately obtuse-serrate, rarely subentire, and often undulate, apex rounded to truncate and sometimes minutely retuse; secondary veins 3 or 4 on each side of midvein. Scapes 1–3, slender, erect, 4–5 cm at flowering, 6–13 cm at fruiting, glabrous, with many lanceolate acuminate scales crowded at base; bracts 3–5, remotely alternate on scape, linear-lanceolate, 5–6 × 1–1.5 mm, apex acuminate, upper most one at base of calyx. Flowers 1–2 cm in diam. Sepals persistent, membranous, inner two somewhat smaller, ovate, 5–6 mm at flowering, 7–8 mm at fruiting, margin entire, apex obtuse to subacute. Corolla white or pale pink, campanulate, ca. 8 × 10 mm; lobes obovate, ca. 6 × 4–5 mm, irregularly dentate on apical margin. Stamens adnate to apex of corolla tube; filaments ca. 0.2 mm; anthers broadly ovate; staminodes absent. Ovary ovoid-globose, ca. 2 mm. Style ca. 2 mm; stigma capitate. Capsule globose-ovoid, ca. 4 × 3 mm. Fl. Mar–Apr, fr. Apr–May.

Forests, rocky places in evergreen forests, alpine regions; 1000–3000 m. Taiwan [Japan (Ryukyu Islands)].

This is a variable species, particularly in terms of plant size as well as leaf blade size, shape, and margin. Plants from lower elevations are larger with rounder leaf blades that are basally truncate to subcordate and with a serrate margin. These plants agree with the holotype (at LE) of Schizocodon rotundifolius from the Ryukyu Islands. At higher elevations the plants are smaller and with smaller leaf blades that in some cases are basally attenuate and with the margin less serrate. The very high elevation plants in the southern alpine regions of Taiwan are very small and have small leaf blades that are subentire. This variation has been treated variously at the specific or varietal level with highest elevation plants given the name Shortia transalpina. All of these differences appear to be clinal and probably do not warrant taxonomic recognition.