Salvia glabrifolia D.G. Zhang & X.J. Long sp. nov. (Figs. 3–4)

Type: China, Hunan Province, Huayuan County, Maoer Township, Taiyangshan Village, 109°20'26'' E, 28°27'53'' N, ca. 680 m, 7 April 2023, D. G. Zhang 0015 (Holotype: JIU).

Description: Perennial herb, 6–10 cm, roots fibrous. Stems unbranched. Stem, petioles, veins and inflorescence axis glabrous. Leaves all basal, simple. Leaf blade glossy and subleathery, ovate or oblong-ovate, 5.5–15.5× 4.2–10 cm, adaxial green or purple, abaxial purple to purplish red, glabrous, apex acute or obtuse, base truncate to cordate, margin repand. Petiole often equal to or slightly longer than blade, 6–10.6 cm, purple, grooved. Inflorescences 22.0–43.0 cm, a relatively lax, raceme of 2- to 6-flowered verticillasters, simple or with up to 3 short branches at the base. Bracts ca. 2 mm, lanceolate, purplish, subglabrous, entire. Pedicel ca. 2 mm, glabrous, purple. Calyx tubular-campanulate ca. 4.5mm, bilabiate to one-third its length, upper lip entire, apex acute, lower lip longer than upper, green to purple, outside glabrous, sparsely strigillose within. Corolla white, ca. 5.5 mm, pubescent outside, with a pilose lanate annulus at one-third above the base inside, upper lip entire, apex emarginate, lower lip ca. 5 mm, 3-lobed, middle lobe obcordate, lateral lobe nearly semicircular. Stamens exserted ca. 2 mm from the corolla, filaments ca. 3 mm, connective ca. 5 mm, upper arm ca. 3 mm, lower arm ca. 1 mm, upper theca fertile, ca. 1.5 mm, lower theca sterile and fused, boot-shaped. Staminodes 1–2mm. Pistil exserted from corolla, apex unequal 2-lobed. Ovary smooth, 4-lobed.

Etymology: The specific epithet is based on the species glabrous leaves, petiole and inflorescences.

Distribution and habitat: S. glabrifolia is currently known only from Taiyangshan Village, Maoer Township, Huayuan County, Hunan Province of China, on the damp roadside stone wall at an altitude of ca. 680 m a.s.l.

Conservation status: At present, only four populations of S. glabrifolia were found in Taiyangshan Village, Maoer Township, Huayuan County, Hunan Province, with a total of about 200 individuals. The distribution area of S. glabrifolia is relatively narrow, and its survival is easily affected by human activities. Therefore, following the IUCN (2024) protocol, S. glabrifolia can be provisionally assigned to the category Endangered, according to criteria B and D, EN B1ab(i,ii,v)+2ab(i,ii,v)+D. However, further in field research is necessary to search for more occurring sites, to study the population dynamics and to assess the possible threats affecting the new species. This data could greatly change the assessment of the IUCN category, as demonstrated by many different assessments published for species newly described to science, ranging from high threat levels, such as Critically endangered or Endangered (Brullo et al. 2015, Wagensommer & Venanzoni 2021) to low or absent threat, such as Least Concern or Near Threatened (Latt et al. 2023, Siti-Munirah & Dome 2023).