The Introduction Of Species Concept And Discussion On Four Insufficient Known Taxa Of Epimedium

Epimedium L.is a taxon in active differentiation,and its taxonomic study is the key and difficult point.According to statistics,there are 57 species and 6 varieties of Epimedium,45 species,1 subspecies and 2 varieties are recognized..The morphological variation of Epimedium plants is often complex,not only in vegetative organs,but also in flower organs,and the boundaries between different groups are blurred,the system is chaotic,and there are many geographical substitutions and transitions.There are many doubts about the description and species definition of some taxa.In order to solve these taxonomic problems,the concept of species was systematically sorted out in this study,and systematic morphological observation of insufficient known taxa was carried out at flowering stage combined with specimens and literature review.To discuss species concept and species definition,focusing on morphological variation pattern analysis and taxonomic description revision of E.tianmenshanense T.Deng,D.G.Zhang & H.Sun,E.ilicifolium Stearn and E.jinchengshanense Y.J.Zhang & J.Q.Li,E.epsteinii Stearn.The main results including:1.A review of the concept of species.The concept of species is the basis of biological research,is the unit of biodiversity,taxonomy and evolution,and the most controversial issue in this field.so far there are nearly 30 species concepts,this article mainly describes the more popular 9 species concepts: biological species concept,genetic species concept,evolutionary species concept,phylogenetic species concept,ecological species concept,taxonomic species concept,morphological-biological species concept,mitonuclear compatibility species concept and inclusive species concept.Each species concept explains "what is a species" from different perspectives.However,due to the complexity of natural species,and almost all species are in continuous evolution,coupled with professional constraints,it is still difficult to establish a unified,operable concept of perfect species.2.Discussion on variation of E.tianmenshanense.The original literature of E.tianmenshanense described its petals as short and blunt with white inner sepals.The petals of E.tianmenshanense have four petal types: cucullate,subulate,shortly spurred to long spurred,and with various transitions.The flowers size varies from small to large accordingly.The flowers with cucullate and subulate petals are small(about 0.8 cm in diameter),petals a little shorter than the inner sepals or almost as long as latter.The flowers with short spurs are medium-sized(about 1.2 cm in diameter),petals a little longer than inner sepals.The flowers with long spurs are large(about 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter),petals much longer than inner sepals.In addition,the color of inner sepals is revised as yellowish green or yellowish white.Finally,the reasons for the variation of the petal height of E.tianmenshanense and Its enlightenment on taxonomy were discussed.3.Discussion on morphological and Interspecific differences of E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense.By systematically specimen inspection of E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense,11 populations of E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense were selected for field observation and comparative study.The 19 quantitative characters such as plant height,sequence axial length,pedicel length and 19 quality characters such as inner sepal shape and petal color were analyzed.The results showed that there were variations in different degrees between the intraspecific populations of E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense.In addition to the obvious differences in Inner sepals,the differences in plant height,sequence axial length,pedicel length and petal color are also obvious,which supports that E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense are independent species.Based on the geographical distribution information and cluster analysis,this study considered that the population SCLW was the transitional type between E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense.4.The morphological variation analysis and supplementary description of E.epsteinii was done.The results showed that the variation range of the main characters of E.epsteinii is far beyond the original descriptions.For example,the height of flowering stems are 12.0-68.0 cm,which is significantly higher than the original description of 12 cm.Both short,compact rhizomes and long creeping rhizomes are observed within the population.And the number of individuals of each types is almost equal.The other characters,such as length and width of middle leaflet,length of inflorescence and flower color variation all present abundant variation.In addition,the fruit and seed characters were described.Follicles are about 8-13 mm long and containing 2-11 seeds,which having a large oily caruncle(elaisome).The population-based morphological investigation and observation of E.tianmenshanense,E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense and E.epsteinii were carried out.This paper analyzed and discussed the doubtful points in describing the flower characteristics of E.tianmenshanense,clarified the morphological characteristics and interspecific differences of E.ilicifolium and E.jinchengshanense,and supplemented the description of the morphological characteristics of E.epsteinii.The classification of Epimedium was further improved,and it was suggested that the morphological variation of Epimedium was abundant,and extensive and in-depth field investigation was still the basis and premise for future research.