Belosynapsis vivipara (Dalzell) C.E.C. Fisch. (Commelinaceae), a vulnerable spiderwort,
rediscovered after sixteen decades from Maharashtra, India
Shrinath
Kavade 1, Subhash Deokule 2, P.
Lakshminarasimhan 3, Prakash Diwakar 4 & Sachin
Punekar 5,6
1 Art, Commerce and Science College, Lanja, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
416701, India
2 Department of Botany,
University of Pune, Pune, Maharashtra 411007, India
3 Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P.O. Botanic
Garden, Howrah, West Bengal 711103, India
4 Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, 7, Koregaon Road,
Pune, Maharashtra 411001, India
5 Paleobiology Group, Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road,
Pune, Maharashtra 411004, India
6 Biospheres, Eshwari, 52/403, Lakshminagar, Parvati, Pune, Maharashtra
411009, India
Email: 1shrinathkavade@gmail.com (corresponding author),
2 deokule@unipune.ernet.in, 3lakshminarasimhanp@yahoo.co.in, 4 pgdiwakar1951@gmail.com, 5sachinpunekar@gmail.com, 6 info@biospheres.in
Date of publication (online): 26 June 2012
Date of publication (print): 26
June 2012
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) |
0974-7893 (print)
Editor: N.P. Balakrishnan
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2444
Received 19 April 2010
Final received 06 April 2012
Finally accepted 14 May 2012
Citation: Kavade, S., S. Deokule,
P. Lakshminarasimhan, P. Diwakar & S. Punekar (2012). Belosynapsis
vivipara (Dalzell) C.E.C. Fisch. (Commelinaceae), a vulnerable spiderwort,
rediscovered after sixteen decades from Maharashtra, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 4(6): 2660–2663.
Copyright: ©
Shrinath Kavade, Subhash Deokule, P. Lakshminarasimhan, PrakashDiwakar & Sachin Punekar 2012. Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this
article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by
providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: We thank Dr. V.R. Gunale, Head,
Department of Botany, University of Pune, Dr. S.R. Bhosale, Principal, ACS
College, Lanja and Directors of Agarkar Research Institute, Pune and Botanical
Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities. Thanks are also due to Maharashtra
Forest Department during the fieldwork in Chandoli National Park. Help rendered
by Dr. V.P. Prasad, Indian Liaison Officer, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, London
by sending the type image is gratefully acknowledged.
For figure, images -- click here
Chandoli National Park
(previously Chandoli Wildlife Sanctuary) is a part of recently declared
Sahyadri Tiger Reserve situated in the heart of the northern Western Ghats of
Maharashtra, ear-marked as a future UNESCO World Heritage site. The study area spreads over an area of
317.67km2 along the backwaters of Varana River across the Sahyadri
range. Chandoli National Park
(CNP) lies between 1703’29”–17017’00”N and 73041’55”–73051’55”E. The altitude ranges from 589 to 1044
m. During a study to assess the floristic
diversity of CNP, we collected and identified Belosynapsis vivipara(Dalzell) C.E.C Fisch. after a lapse of 160 years from
Maharashtra. The
genus BelosynapsisHassk. is represented by five species
distributed from South Asia to New Guinea (e-Floras, Digital Flora of Taiwan
2009). In India, it is
represented by three species, namely, B. epiphytica (Blatt.) C.E.C. Fisch., B.
kewensis Hassk. and B. vivipara(Dalzell) C.E.C. Fisch. (Karthikeyan et al. 1989). After Dalzell’s collection in 1851 from
Parva Ghat (Fig. 1), Maharashtra (at the junction of Maharashtra, Goa and
Karnataka State), this species could not be collected from any other place in
Maharashtra and it is treated as nearly vanished from the state
(Lakshminarasimhan 1996; Mishra & Singh 2001). Apart from Maharashtra, this endemic (Ahmedullah & Nayar
1986) species is distributed in Karnataka (Katlekan, Jog Falls, Yedur, Agumbe,
Shimoga, Hulical-Hosgadda, Shirur Ghat, Talacavery) (Sundararaghavan 1970),
Kerala (Wayaaad) (Sharma et al. 1984) and Tamil Nadu (Anamalai Hills) (Gamble
1931). In the present
investigation, a total of about 100 individuals were seen growing as epiphytes
on large tree trunks at about 1.52–3.04 m from the ground in the riparian
forest patches of Male and Patharpunj villages in Chandoli National Park, which
in fact forms the northernmost distribution of this vulnerable taxon (Kammathy
1987).
Materials and Methods: The
present work is based on intensive floristic survey of CNP in the period 2005
to 2010. During the field study
four specimens of this species were collected and plant specimens were
identified using Gamble (1967), Sundararaghavan, (1970), Kammathy (1987),
Lakshminarasimhan (1996) and
deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Botany, University of Pune and
Herbarium of Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune (BSI)
with collection number SPK 645.
A detailed description,
ecological observations, photographs (Image 1a-c) and distribution map (Fig. 1)
of the species are provided for easy identification.
Belosynapsis vivipara (Dalzell) Sprague ex C.E.C. Fisch.
inBull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1928: 254. 1928 & in Gamble, Fl.
Madras 1551. 1931 [3: 1082. 1967 (Repr.)]; Kammathy in
M.P. Nayar & Sastry (eds.), Red Data Book Indian Pl. 1: 124, f. 1987;
Karthik. et al., Fl. Ind. Enum. Monocot. 24.
1989; Lakshmin. in B. D. Sharma et al., Fl.
Maharashtra State, Monocot. 147. 1996; D.K. Mishra & N.P. Singh, Endemic
& Threat. Fl. Pl. Maharashtra 241. 2001. Cyanotis viviparaDalzell in Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew. Gard. Misc. 3: 226.1851; Hook. f., Fl. Brit.
India 6: 388. 1892; T. Cooke, Fl. Bombay 3: 305. 1967
(Repr.).
Epiphytic,
subscapigerous herbs, 10–25 cm long, covered with scattered rufous
spreading hairs or glabrescent in the tender plants; rootstock small. Leaves radical and cauline; radical
leaves 3–8 x 1–2 cm, sessile, linear or linear-lanceolate, base
narrowed, apex acute or acuminate, covered with pilose hairs; cauline leaves 1–2
x 0.2–0.5 cm, sessile, ovate or elliptic, apex acute, pilose. Scape 8–25 cm
long, slender, viviparous at the apex with several small oblong-lanceolate
acute leaves. Peduncle with
2–4 flowers in umbel, arising from the leaf axils, pilose, 2-bracteate.
Sepals 3, 2–3 mm long, oblong, villous. Petals 3, white, connate to the
middle. Stamens 6; filaments naked. Capsules oblanceolate, ca. 3mm long,
obtuse, hairy, recurved after dehiscence, 3-celled, 2-seeded. Seeds cylindric, smooth.
Specimens
examined: 1851, Parva Ghat, Maharashtra, India, coll.
Dalzell, s.n. (K), 30.xi.1961, Katlekan, on way to Gerusoppa from Jog, coll.
Ansari and Kammathy, 78707; 04.x.1962, Yedur, Shimoga District, coll. Raghavan,
82972; 08.x.1962, Hulical, Shimoga District, coll. Raghavan, 83069;
09.x.1962, same locality, coll. Raghavan, 83088 A; 16.x.1962, Agumbe, Shimoga
District, coll. Raghavan, 83267; 24.viii.1963, Hulical-Hosgadda area, Shimoga District, coll.
Raghavan, 9196; 01.ix.1963, Shirur Ghat, Shimoga District, coll. Raghavan, 90372
A; 23.x.1963, Bhimanagundi, Coorg District, coll. A.S. Rao, 95014; 26.x.1963,
Talacauvery, Coorg District, coll. A.S. Rao, 95144 (All in BSI);
21.vii.2007, Chandoli National Park, Sangali District, SPK 645 (Department of
Botany, University of Pune; BSI) (Image 2).
Flowering
& Fruiting: July–October.
Distribution:Endemic to Western Ghats. Maharashtra (Sangali); Karnataka
(Chikmagalur, Coorg, Hassan, Mysore, N. Kanara, Shimoga), Kerala (Wayanad) and
Tamil Nadu (Anamalai Hills).
Ecology: Growing
at an elevation of ca. 992m (17016’22.79”N
& 73045’15.20”E) as an epiphyte on densely moss covered tree
trunks and branches of Flacourtia
montana, Memecylon umbellatumand Syzygium
cumini in shady, semi-evergreen riparian forests
(Image 1a) in association with Begonia
crenata, Bryum sp., Hoya wightii,Hymenophyllumsp., Lycopodium
hamiltonii, Pogonatum sp. and Remusatia vivipara.
We suggest that total
protection should be given to the riparian forests areas of Chandoli National
Park for the conservation of this vulnerable and endemic taxon. Ex situ
conservation and domestication of this species in greenhouses and gardens for
future survival, besides its re-introduction into the wild in similar habitats
is the need of the hour.
Ahmedullah., M. & M.P. Nayar (1986). Endemic
Plants of Indian Region—Vol. 1.Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, p.208.
Digital Flora of Taiwan (2009). <http://www.efloras.org> Missouri Botanical Garden, St.
Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Online
version dated 26 September 2009.
Gamble,
J.S. (1931). The Flora of the Presidency of
Madras—Pt. IX. Adlard and Son Ltd. London, p.1551. [3:
1082. 1967 (Repr.)].
Kammathy,
R.V. (1987). Belosynapsis
vivipara (Dalz.) Sprague etFischer, p.123, f. on p.124. In: Nayar, M.P. & A.R.K. Sastry (eds.). Red
Data Book of Indian Plants—Vol. 1. Botanical
Survey of India, Calcutta.
Karthikeyan, S., S.K. Jain, M.P.
Nayar & M. Sanjappa (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio:
Monocotyledonae, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta,
p.24.
Lakshminarasimhan,
P. (1996). Monocotyledones,p. 147. In: Sharma, B.D., S. Karthikeyan & N.P. Singh
(eds.). Flora
of Maharashtra State. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.
Mishra, D.K. & N.P. Singh
(2001). Endemic
and Threatened Flowering Plants of Maharashtra.Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, p.241.
Sharma,
B.D., N.P. Singh., R. Sundararaghavan & U.R. Deshpande
(1984). Flora of Karnataka Analysis. Botanical Survey India, Calcutta, p.288.
Sundararaghavan,
R. (1970). The Flora of Agumbe and
Tirthahalli areas in Shimoga District, Mysore State. PhD Thesis. Madras
University, Madras. (Unpublished)