ERANTHIS ALBIFLORA
A specimen fitting Franchet’s 1885 description of Eranthis albiflora on Erlang Shan
A Chinese Eranthis that suffers from an identity crisis 102
I
n 2007 I was browsing the then quite recently published volume of Flora of China (FoC) incorporating Ranunculaceae at efloras.org. Apart from the well-known Eranthis stellata, another two species are given in this: E. albiflora and E. lobulata. Both are very little-known. E. lobulata is recorded in the flora with the comment ‘sepals and petals unknown’ (i.e. not seen in flower: from a botanical view this is a striking omission). It is represented by just three sets of herbarium material, one collection identified as the doubtfully THE ALPINE GARDENER
