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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2017 | 9(11): 10974–10976
A new record of grass Ottochloa (Poaceae) to the Eastern Ghats, India
Midigesi Anil Kumar 1, P. Anjaneyulu 2 & Boyina Ravi Prasad Rao 3
1,2,3 Department of Botany, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, NH-205, Anantapur-Tirupati Highway, Ananthapuramu, Andhra Pradesh 515003, India
1 anilbcdl@gmail.com, 2 bcdanji@gmail.com, 3 biodiversityravi@gmail.com (corresponding author)
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3560.9.11.10974-10976
Editor: Aparna Watve, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Osmanabad, India. Date of publication: 26 November 2017 (online & print)Manuscript details: Ms # 3560 | Received 09 June 2017 | Final received 02 November 2017 | Finally accepted 07 November 2017
Citation: Kumar, M.A., P. Anjaneyulu & B.R.P. Rao (2017). A new record of grass Ottochloa (Poaceae) to the Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(11): 10974–10976; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3560.9.11.10974-10976
Copyright: © Kumar et al. 2017. 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: National Remote Sensing Agency and University Grants Commission.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to University Grants Commission-BSR-OTG Project (No.F. 19-151/2015 (BSR) and National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSC/FEG/VCP – 2015) for the Junior Research Fellowship to Mr. M. Anil Kumar.
During an inventory of grasses in the state of Andhra Pradesh in January 2016, the authors located interesting grass specimens from the forests of Maredumilli, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. After critical examination, we concluded that these specimens belonged to Ottochloa nodosa, a common grass found in the shades of moist deciduous forests in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, Kerala and, Tamil Nadu; and northeastern India. Perusal of published works on grasses of Andhra Pradesh and the Eastern Ghats (Fischer 1928; Bor 1960; Karthikeyan 1989; Gayathri & Pullaiah 1997; Reddy et al. 2008; Kabeer & Nair 2009; Krishnamurthy et al. 2014) revealed that Ottochloa has not yet been reported from these areas and hence the present collection forms a new distributional record.
Ottochloa nodosa
(Kunth) Dandy, J. Bot. 69: 55 1931; C.E.C. Fisch. in Gamble, Fl. Madras 3: 1778.1934; Bor, Grass. Burm Ceylon India Pakistan: 318. 1960; Fl. Ind. Enum. Monocot.: 184. 1989; Kabeer & Nair, Fl. of Tamil. Grass. 265. 2009 (Fig. 1 & Image 1).
Type: India, Madras State, R. Wight, 1611 (K000245265, image!).
Specimens examined: 49680 (SKU), 24.xi.2016, Maredumilli forest, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India, coll. Boyina Ravi Prasad Rao & Midigesi Anil Kumar.
Annual or perennial matt forming herbs. Culms up to 60cm long, decumbent, rooting from lower nodes. Leaf blades elliptic - ovate or lanceolate, base unequal or shallowly cordate, apex acuminate, surface glabrous, margins scabrous, 5–10×0.8–1.5 cm; ligules eciliate membranes; sheaths glabrous to sparsely pubiscent on surface, densely ciliate on one margin, 2.5–4.5×0.2 cm. Inflorescence of racemes, branches appressed to raceme axis or effuse. Spikelets single or 2–3 in a cluster on secondary branches. Spikelets 2 - flowered, lower barren, upper fertile. Glumes 2, lower ovate, membranous, margins ciliate,1.6-1.8 mm long, prominently 5 nerved; upper ovate - lanceolate, membranous, margins ciliate, c. 2mm long, 7 - nerved. Lower floret barren, without significant palea; lemma of lower sterile floret akin to upper glume, first length of fertile lemma, membranous, 2.9–3.1 mm long, 7 - nerved. Upper fertile lemma coriaceous, margins thin, involute, 2.8–3 mm long, 5 - nerved; palea coriaceous, glabrous, involute, sub equal to its lemma, 2.5–2.8 mm long, 2 - nerved. Stamen 3, anthers 1.2mm long. Stigma plumose. Caryopsis not seen.
Flowering & fruiting: July–December.
Distribution: Andhra Pradesh: East Godavari. India: Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu. World: Africa: west - central tropical. Asia: (temperate: China and eastern Asia). Asia (tropical: India, Indo china, Malaysia and Papuasia). Australia (Clayton et al. 2006 onwards).
Habitat & ecology: Occasional; along perennial water bodies in the interior of the forest.
Note: Ottochola is closely allied to the genus Panicum, but is distinguished from the latter by its shorter upper glumes. The leaf sheaths of Ottochloa nodosa are conspicuously ciliate on one margin and are a key vegetative character to identify the species.
References
Bor, N.L. (1960). The Grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan (excluding Bambuseae). Pergamon Press, London, 767pp.
Clayton, W.D., M.S.Vorontsova, K.T. Harman& H. Williamson (2016 onwards). GrassBase - The Online World grass Flora. (Accessed 08 November 2006). http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
Fischer, C.E.C. (1928). Poaceae. In: Gamble, J.S. (ed.), Flora of the Presidency of Madras - Vol. 3. Adlard & Son Ltd., London, 2,017pp.
Gayathri, M. S. & T. Pullaiah (1997). Flora of Andhra Pradesh - Vol. 3 . Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, 1,349pp.
Kabeer, K.A.A. & V.J. Nair (2009). Flora of Tamil Nadu - Grasses. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 525pp.
Karthikeyan, S., S.K. Jain, M.P. Nayar & M. Sanjappa (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio Monocotyledonae. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 435pp.
Krishnamurthy, K.V., R. Murugan & K.R. Kumar (2014). Bioresourses of the Eastern Ghats, Their Conservation and Management. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, 823pp.
Reddy, C.S., K.N. Reddy & V.S. Raju (2008). Supplement to Flora of Andhra Pradesh, India. Deep Publication New Delhi, 148pp.
