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Unveiling the Identity of Viburnum laterale (Viburnaceae), a Long‐Lost Species Rediscovered After Nearly a Century, Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence
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Unveiling the Identity of Viburnum laterale (Viburnaceae), a Long‐Lost Species Rediscovered After Nearly a Century, Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence
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Unveiling the Identity of Viburnum laterale (Viburnaceae), a Long‐Lost Species Rediscovered After Nearly a Century, Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence
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Journal Article
Unveiling the Identity of Viburnum laterale (Viburnaceae), a Long‐Lost Species Rediscovered After Nearly a Century, Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence
2026
Overview
Viburnum laterale Rehder is a poorly known shrub endemic to southeastern China that has remained taxonomically unresolved since its publication more than a century ago. The species was known only from a few historical collections that lacked critical characters, and no living populations had been documented for nearly a century. Here, we report the rediscovery of this taxon and clarify its taxonomic identity using an integrative approach combining morphological and molecular evidence. Observations of living plants reveal several previously undocumented reproductive traits, including inflorescences with conspicuous white sterile marginal flowers, as well as fruit and seed morphology. Comparative analyses of living material, type specimens, and protologues indicate that V. laterale is most similar to V. hanceanum Maximowicz, with V. laterale differing mainly in its nearly absent indumentum, longer peduncles, and more coarsely serrate leaf margins. Phylogenetic analyses based on chloroplast coding sequences, together with an expanded dataset comprising nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and three plastid markers (matK, ndhF, and rbcL), consistently place V. laterale within sect. Tomentosa (Maximowicz) Nakai, where it forms a strongly supported clade with V. hanceanum. Based on morphological and molecular evidence, V. laterale is transferred to sect. Tomentosa and treated as a variety of V. hanceanum, namely V. hanceanum var. depilatum M. Tang & L.C. Zhao. Our study resolves a long‐standing taxonomic problem and highlights the importance of rediscovering historically ambiguous taxa for accurate species delimitation in Viburnum. Viburnum laterale, a poorly known species endemic to southeastern China, is rediscovered after nearly a century and reassessed using integrated morphological observations and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Newly documented reproductive traits and multilocus phylogenies place this taxon within Viburnum sect. Tomentosa, where it forms a strongly supported clade with V. hanceanum. Based on combined evidence, V. laterale is reduced to varietal rank as V. hanceanum var. depilatum, resolving a long‐standing taxonomic uncertainty.
