New discoveries of cycads and advancement of conservation of cycads in China

Abstract

From 1997 to 1999Cycas debaoensis Y. C. Zhong & C. J. Chen andC. changjiangensis N. Liu were described from South China. The wild populations ofCycas szechuanensis were discovered in Fujian.Cycas guizhouensis K. M. Lan & R. F. Zou at the higher elevations andC. segmentifida D. Y. Wang & C. Y. Deng at the lower elevations along the Nanpanjiang River should be good species, which were treated by Chen and Wang (1995) and Chen and Stevenson (1999) as synonyms forC. szechuanensis. However, 11 other new species have been reduced by Chen and Stevenson (1999) and the present authors. They areC. longlinensis Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong,C. xilinensis Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, C.multifida Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, C.longiconifera Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, andC. acuminatissima Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, all treated as synonyms ofC. segmentifida. Cycas spiniformis J. Y. Liang,C. longisporophylla F. N. Wei,C. septermsperma Huang T. Chang & H. X. Zhang,C. brevipinnata Huang T. Chang et al. should be synonyms forC. exseminifera F. N. Wei.Cycas miquelii Warb, andEpicycas miquelii (Warb.) de Laub, should be the synonyms forC revoluta because their “stype” specimens are somewhat likeC. revoluta. The Honghe Nature Cycad Reserve forCycas multipinnata andC. hongheensis was recently established in Yunnan. The Debao Cycad Reserve will be established soon. However, most existing cycad reserves in China have not been so successful because of shortages of funding and poor management. In ex situ conservation the Qingxiushan Cycad Garden in Nanning, Guangxi, was established. Cycad nurseries have begun to appear in some villages in South China.