Pteris geminata Wall. ex J.
Agardh (Pteridaceae): a Critically Endangered Pteridophyte in India
V.K. Sreenivas 1 & P.V. Madhusoodanan 2
1 Department of Botany, Sri Vyasa N.S.S.
College, Wadakanchery, Thrissur District, Kerala 680623, India
2 Malabar Botanical Garden, Calicut, Kerala
673014, India
1 sreenivasvk@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 pvmadhu@gmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3564.5875-7
Editor: V.
Irudayaraj, St. Xavier’s College, Tirunelveli, India Date
of publication: 26 June 2014 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms #
o3564 | Received 26 August 2013 | Final received 07 February 2014 | Finally
accepted 20 May 2014
Citation: Sreenivas, V.K. & P.V. Madhusoodanan (2014).Pteris geminata Wall.
ex J. Agardh (Pteridaceae): a Critically Endangered Pteridophyte in India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 6(6): 5875–5877; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3564.5875-7
Copyright: © Sreenivas & Madhusoodanan 2014.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution
by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE).
Competing Interest: The
authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The first author
is deeply indebted to Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE) for proving research fellowship in taxonomy. We are thankful to the Director,
Botanical Survey of India (CAL), Kolkata, for allowing examining the Wallichian
Herbaria. We are also grateful to Kerala Forest Department to permit to collect
the specimens from Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala.
For figures, images -- click here
The genus Pteris is commonly known as ‘Brake ferns’ and was
established by Linnaeus (1753). It
is estimated to contain about 250 species (Tryon et al. 1990) in the
world. In India, the genus is
represented by 50 species (Fraser-Jenkins 2008), though Chandra (2000) reported
45 species, two subspecies and two varieties. The pantropical genus Pteris in
India is found in the eastern Himalayan region of northeastern India and the
Western Ghats of southern India. Manickam & Irudayaraj (1992) reported 15 species of Pterisfrom the Western Ghats, and later several authors added new species and new
records to the southern Indian fern flora. Some of the species of Pteris are very rare and their
representation in various herbaria is scanty. P. geminata is a threatened
species and has been reported from Palakkad and Idukki districts of Kerala and
Coimbatore, Nilgiri and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu (Manickam &
Irudayaraj 1992). Wallich (1828)
catalogued this species from ‘India orientalis’ without any description, but
later Agardh (1839) validly published this species. P. geminata is characterized by
its veins ending in hydathodes (vein not reaching the margin). The sterile pinnule and apex of the
fertile pinnule is crenate and the lower pair of veins are united to form
costal areoles along the midrib.
Materials and methods: The present study is
based on the field trips conducted from May 2007 to April 2010 in different
parts of southern India including biosphere reserves, national parks, and wild
life sanctuaries. Apart from this,
specimens deposited in CAL, CALI, KFRI, MGMC, MH, RHT, SKU, TBGT, XCH were also
examined. But, this species could
be collected only from the Periyar Tiger Reserve, Idukki, Kerala (V.K.
Sreenivas 124025, CALI).
Pteris geminata Wall. ex J. Agardh,
Recens. Spec. Pter. 31. 1839. (Image 1; Figs 1 & 2)
Material examined: Reg. No. 124025, 22.iii.2009, Idukki District, Kerala,
Near Injippara-Periyar Tiger Reserve (alt. 900m), coll. V.K. Sreenivas.
Type: Nepal, Wallich 2180 (CAL!; CALI, Microfishe!).
Syn: Campteria anamallayensis Bedd., Ferns S. India 14. pl. 45.
1863.
Height 60–70 cm. Rhizome erect to suberect, 4–6 cm long x 4–6 cm thick,
cylindrical with tuft of stipes, scaly. Palea light brown, 3–5 mm long,
0.4–0.6 mm wide at base, lanceolate, entire, acuminate, auriculate, thin
uniformly. Stipe 45–55 cm long, 3–6 mm thick, green (fresh
specimens) or stramineous (dry materials) above and chestnut below, grooved
throughout, glabrous above, scaly below. Lamina bipinnate, 35–45 cm long x 25–30 cm broad, ovate,
basal pair bipartite, herbaceous (thin). Pinnae 5–7 pairs, 20–25 cm long x 4-6 cm broad, opposite,
ovate, acute, basal pinna bipartite, green, and glabrous. Pinnules 16–23
pairs, 30–50 cm long x 3–9 mm broad, oblong, acute, crenate
(sterile), only apex is crenate in fertile ones, sinus
c. 3mm away from costa, 2mm apart, glabrous. Costae grooved above with short
inconspicuous spines at the base of costules, and raised below. Veins
13–16 pairs, free, forking, distinct, lower pair of veins form costal
areoles along midrib, veins ending submarginally in hydathodes. Sori brown, linear, crowded, 1.2–2
cm long, marginal except at base and apex. Indusium false, brown at
maturity. Sporangium: capsule
globose, 200µm long; stalk 250µm long, biseriate; annulus 18–22 celled. Paraphyses uniseriate. Spores brown, c. 45x50 μm,
trilete-tetrahedral, rugate.
Habitat: A rare species present only in moist evergreen forests at high
altitudes (800–2300 m).
Notes: It was found that the population of this species is
decreasing at an alarming rate due to habitat destruction and climate
change. Recently, Chandra et al.
(2008) included this species in the ‘Critically Endangered’ category. A cursory look at the population based on the IUCN Red List (2001)
seems that the species meets the criteria B1ac(iii) under the Endangered
category. So it is proposed to conserve the species by vegetative propagation
as well as clonal propagation by tissue culture methods.
References
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