Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2018 | 10(5): 11679–11682
Anemone
trullifolia and Berberis
angulosa as new records to the flora of the western Himalaya, India
Ishwari Datt
Rai 1, Gajendra
Singh 2 &
Gopal Singh Rawat 3
1,3 Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
248002, India
2 Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, 93/II, Vasant
Vihar, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
248006, India
1 ishwari.rai@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 gajendrawat@yahoo.com,
3 rawatg@wii.gov.in
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3961.10.5.11679-11682
Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publication: 26 April 2018
(online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # 3961 | Received 18
December 2017 | Final received 12 March 2018 | Finally accepted 24 March 2018
Citation: Rai, I.D., G. Singh & G.S. Rawat (2018). Anemone trullifolia and Berberis angulosa as new records to the flora of the western
Himalaya, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa
10(5): 11679–11682;
http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3961.10.5.11679-11682
Copyright:
© Rai et al.
2018. 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: Wildlife Institute of India.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the Director and Dean, Wildlife Institute of
India for institutional support.
The Himalaya, one of the global biodiversity hotspots,
represents ~10,000 plant species, of which 71 genera and ~3,160 species are
endemic to this region. The
elevation gradient of mountains in the Himalaya is the highest on earth,
resulting in a great diversity of ecosystems that range from the warm
subtropical climate to the perpetual snow peaks. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)
represents about 61% of endemic species and 49% of endemic genera of flowering plants
(Nayar 1996).
Several authors recognized the western Himalaya as an important
floristic region of India (Hooker 1907; Chatterjee
1939). Floristically, compared
to the eastern Himalaya, the western Himalaya is more explored; however,
several pockets in the interior valleys still require intensive botanical
surveys. Interestingly, reports of
several noteworthy species are still being brought out from this region and
many new species have been described in the recent past (Tiwari
& Adhikari 2011; Rai et
al. 2014, 2015, 2017; Rai & Rawat
2015) indicating a further need of intensive floristic explorations in this
region.
Materials and Methods
Extensive floristic surveys were conducted in the high
altitudes of the western Himalaya during the last two decades. The surveys were
made in the entire western Himalaya covering Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Random sampling method is used covering various vegetation types and
landform units viz., moist and dry alpine meadows,
marsh meadows, alpine steppes, scree slopes, moraines etc. Samples of the interesting species were
collected, dried and herbarium specimens were prepared and housed at herbarium
of Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
During these floristic surveys, we recorded A. trullifolia
(Ranunculaceae) and Berberis
angulosa (Berberidaceae),
which are hitherto undescribed from the western
Himalaya (Fig. 1). After a detailed
scrutiny of the literature and regional flora (Hooker & Thomson 1855;
Hooker 1975–97; Press et al. 2000; Uniyal et
al. 2007; Adhikari 2010), taxonomic notes and
searches in various herbaria (BSD, DD and WII), these species were identified
as additions to the flora of the western Himalaya. In this article, we present a brief
description of each recorded species along with a photo-plate for easy
identification, their distribution, ecology and phytogeography in the Himalayan
region.
Anemone chumulangmaensis W.T. Wang, 1974: 171.
Anemone obtusiloba subsp. trullifolia (Hook.f.
and Thomson) BrŸhl, 1896:77.
Perennial, densely hairy herbs with stout rootstocks
bearing fibrous remains of old leaves; Leaves simple, 4–10; petiole flat,
1–3 cm× 3–5 mm, villous or densely pubescent; leaf blade
3-lobed, spathulate, rhombic, ovate-rhombic, or obovate, 2–7×1–5 cm, densely pubescent,
base attenuate, sometimes cuneate, margin distally
dentate, apex rounded. Scapes 2–7, 3–15
cm long, villous or densely pubescent; cyme 1–2-flowered. Involucral bract, 3-dentate or entire, narrowly obovate
or lanceolate, 1–2.5 cm, hirsute. Bracteoles sometimes present, paired,
small. Flowers
solitary or 2–3, Pedicel 1–5 cm, pubescent or puberulent. Sepals 5 or 6, yellow to purplish,
elliptic-obovate, 5–12×4–8 mm,
pubescent. Stamens
light brown, 1.8–3.4 mm; filament narrowly ovoid, 0.5–0.7 mm wide;
anther globose, small. Pistils light brown, cylindric-ovoid,
2–4 mm; ovary villous or pubescent. Achene body ellipsoid-ovoid or fusiform,
slightly compressed, 3–4×1–2 mm, hairy, beak hooked, ca. 2mm
long.
Flowering and fruiting: May–August.
Distribution: India (Uttarakhand,
Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh); Bhutan; Nepal; China.
Material examined: 339 (WII), 20.v.2004, India, Uttarakhand,
Pithoragarh, Topidhunga, 30.6376150N
& 80.1335090E, 4,400m, coll. G.S. Rawat
(Image 3).
Ecology and
phytogeography: The species grows alongside streams and moist alpine meadows
between 3,500–4,700 m elevation.
It was recorded on dry and stable, undulating slopes having fine murram. Higher
slopes have large hemispheric cushions of Thylacospermum
caespitosum.
These slopes harbour about 25–30 %
herbaceous and 15–20 % graminoids with a
dominance of Arenaria spp. The only shrub in the area was Potentilla rigida. The herbaceous species found in
association with Potentilla bifurca, Waldheimia tomentosa, Leontopodium
alpinum, Oxytropis lapponica, Arenaria bryophylla, Chesneya nubigena and Rheum moorcroftianum. Overall vegetation cover in the region
ranges between 25–70 %. The
area has scattered colonies of Himalayan Marmot Marmota
himalayana.
The earlier known distribution range of this plant species is Nepal,
Bhutan and SW Gansu, S Qinghai, S Sichuan, S Xizang and NW Yunnan regions of
China (www.efloras.org).
Deciduous shrubs, upto 2m tall. Stems and branches terete to sulcate, glabrous, reddish-brown when young. Internodes
1–2.5 cm. Spines 3 or 5-fid, strong, usually terete.
Leaves slightly coriaceous. Petiole indistinct or short, 2–5 mm. Lamina obovate
to oblanceolate, 1.5–4.5×0.5–1.5
cm, base cuneate to shortly attenuate, apex obtuse, mucronate, margin usually entire, sometimes with 1–3 spinulose teeth on each side, dark green above, paler
beneath, venation slightly prominent below. Flowers solitary or in fascicles of
2–6 flowers. Bracts
indistinct. Flower solitary,
yellow, 1.5–2 cm in diameter.
Pedicel 0.5–2 cm, glabrous
to puberulous. Sepals in two whorls, outer sepals ovate
or spathulate, 6–10×3.5–4.5 mm;
inner sepals obovate, 7–10×5–7 mm.
Petals obovate, 5.5–8.5×3.5–5.5 mm,
base cuneate, apex undulate or rounded, margin
entire, venation distinct with one central and 2 or 3 pairs of lateral veins;
glands obovoid, ca. 1mm long. Stamens 4–5 mm
long, connectives slightly produced, tip conical. Pistil 3–4 mm long; ovules
4–6. Berries bright red, sub-globose,
8–10 mm long.
Flowering and fruiting: May–August.
Distribution: India (Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal,
Sikkim); Nepal; China.
Material examined: 11494
(WII), 19.vi.2009, India, Himachal Pradesh, Kugti,
32.4533720N
& 76.7399020E, 3,420m, coll. G. Singh & G.S. Rawat (Image 4).
Ecology and
phytogeography: The species grows in dry open slopes, open canopy forests and
meadows between an elevation of 3,000–4,500 m. The earlier recorded western most
distribution of the species was in the Myagdi area of
Nepal (Adhikari 2010) which
is about four degree below in latitude from the current location. In China it is reported from Qinghai,
Xizang regions (www.efloras.org).
Discussion
The western
Himalaya have received attention of a large number of botanists yet they remain
rather under explored. The wide
variation in altitude and climate makes it ideal for sustaining a rich
diversity of plant and animal species.
Previously in the Indian Himalayan region Anemone trullifolia
and Berberis angulosa
were known to occur only in the eastern and central Himalaya. Current reports from the western
Himalaya make them bio-geographically noteworthy by means of their distribution
in the Himalaya. These species in this
region could be attributed to their extended range of distribution or
restrained botanical excursions in these interior valleys. Further, the current report on the
presence of a few individuals indicates their rarity in the region.
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