Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2020 | 12(17): 17366–17369

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4750.12.17.17366-17369

#4750 | Received 08 December 2018 | Final received 12 July 2020 | Finally accepted 27 November 2020

 

 

 

Strobilanthes affinis (Acanthaceae): a new addition to the flora of Manipur, India

 

Sanjeet Kumar 1 & Rajkumari Supriya Devi 2

 

1 Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, First Floor, Sarswati Tower, Laxmisagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751006 India.

2 Biodiversity & Conservation Division, Regional Centre, Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Imphal, Manipur 795001, India.

1 sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 supriyark91@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: K. Haridasan, Pallavur, Palakkad, Kerala, India.    Date of publication: 26 December 2020 (online & print)

 

Citation: Kumar, S. & R.S. Devi (2020). Strobilanthes affinis (Acanthaceae): a new addition to the flora of Manipur, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(17): 17366–17369. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4750.12.17.17366-17369

 

Copyright: © Kumar & Devi 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Core works of APRF, India.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal; Dr. S.B. Ummalyma, Dr. S.S. Thorat, & Dr. B.G. Somkuwar, IBSD, Imphal; and the local communities of the study area.  The authors are also thankful to Smt. Padma Mahanti, director, Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Thiruvananthapuram and Smt. Lekshmi R, Eravikulam National Park, Munnar, Kerala.

 

 

 

The genus Strobilanthes Blume (1826: 781) from the family Acanthaceae (Wood & Scotland 2009) is a genus of perennial flowering herbs and shrubs with about 453 species worldwide (Biju et al. 2017; Mabberly 2017; Thomas et al. 2019, 2020; Wood et al. 2019).  In India, the genus is represented by ca. 150 species (Scotland 1998; Gopalan & Chitra 2008; Karthikeyan et al. 2009; Wood 2014; Biju et al. 2017), and it is found mostly in evergreen forests.  The name Strobilanthes is derived from the Latin word “Strobilos” meaning cone and “anthos” meaning flower or shoot.  For the first time, the genus was scientifically described by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees Von Esenbeck in the 19th century for the plants which bloom after long intervals, while some species of Strobilanthes bloom annually (Preethi & Suseem 2014; Josekutty et al. 2016, 2017, 2018; Augustine et al. 2017).  The genus is distributed in the tropical regions of Asia starting from Afghanistan through India and Southeast Asia to Australia (Josekutty et al. 2018).  During 2017–2018, while surveying floral diversity around Imphal, Manipur, when the weather was clear and the vegetation was on the verge of blooming, an exciting view of a blue patch of herbs was recorded.  The site was an isolated place near an abandoned old temple-like structure.  It appeared like a small hill at the periphery of a human inhabitation which might have been used in the past as a sacred place where local deities may have been worshipped.  It was a moist shady place with huge aged trees sheltering and nurturing vegetation beneath.  A significant patch of blue coloured herbs with a height of 45–85 cm were blooming with bright blue coloured flowers in the area of around 4.5–6.5 m2 on the slopes of a small hillock.  After careful observation in the field, the first author confirmed that the specimen belongs to the genus Strobilanthes but confused it with S. auriculata or S. jeyporensis.  After a detailed study of the specimen’s morphology (Image 1) and pollen morphology (Image 2), and comparison with S. kunthiana, it was confirmed that the collected species was S. affinis.  This specimen was again confirmed by professor John Wood, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.  After confirmation, literature survey and critical characterization, it was noticed that collected plant had been earlier reported from China (Wood et al. 2003) and the species was also collected by J.D. Hooker and T. Thomson from Meghalaya as S. acrocephala more than 10 decades ago.  Therefore, it was concluded that the present specimen that was collected is identified as S. affinis and reported here for the first time from Manipur as an extended distribution.

During our field survey of the flora of Manipur (24.916 N & 93.961 E, 803m), some unidentified species of the genus Strobilanthes were collected.  The specimens were packed in cloth bags and brought to the laboratory for analysis.  The relevant floras were consulted for confirming its identity.  A thorough review of the literature, detailed morphological and consultation of herbarium provided by professor Wood revealed that the specimen was Strobilanthes affinis (Griff.) Terao ex J.R.I.Wood J.R.Benn.  The mounting of herbarium specimens was accomplished using standard taxonomic procedure (Jain & Rao 1977; Bridson & Forman 1998).   The voucher specimens (APRF-MAN-BCD/2018-0004) were deposited in the “APRFH” Herbaria, Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Odisha, India.  The photographs of the diagnostic characteristics were taken by Stereo Microscope, (Leica MC 120 HD).

 

Taxonomic enumeration

Strobilanthes affinis (Griff.) Terao ex J. R. I. Wood J. R. Benn

Description: Herbs, 50–82.5 cm tall with many branches.  Stems angular (quadrangular) with white pubescent, hairs. Leaves ovate-elliptic, 7–5 x 4–3 cm to 9–0 x 6–3 cm.  Leaves simple, petiole, 3.5–4.3 cm long. Inflorescences axillary or terminal,3.0–7.5 cm.  Each inflorescence has two flowers that have bloomed, after drying another couple of flowers bloom.  Flowers size, 1.9–2.3 cm long, 1.2 x 1.2–2.0 x 1.8 cm wide.  Floral bracts imbricate with large-celled trichomes.  Corolla violet or bluish-violet.  Stamens 4 and glabrous, 5.0–2.2 mm.  Fruits capsule, pubescent, four seeded, 4.0–7.0 mm.  Seeds brown ovate (Image 1).

Flowering & Fruiting: August—March

Distribution: China and India (Manipur, Meghalaya).

Specimen examined: APRF-MAN-BCD-2018-004, India, Manipur, Imphal, 24.9160N & 93.9610E, 803m, Kumar Sanjeet 012 (Holotype APRFH) (Image 4).

Habitat & Ecology: The collected species is Strobilanthes affinis found on a small hill top of Manipur State.  The collected area lies in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot region.  It was observed that the habitat is Moist-deciduous vegetation.  The most common associated herbs and climbers are Passiflora foetida, Solanum nigrum, Sida cordifolia, Cissampelos pareira, and Phyllanthus reticulatus with some tree species like Bombax ceiba and Pongamia pinnata.  It was found in 6.09 x 9.14 – 4.57 x 7.01 m area of a hill top of said region.

Remarks: The most unique characters of collected specimen are four exerted stamens (Image 3).  Wood et al. (2003) described it from China and recorded that the flowering period is only from September to November.   In the present study, however, it was observed that it flowers from August to March.  It was also observed that Sida acuta is the main associate flora of the collected species.  As it is found only one region of Manipur, it should be assessed for threat status using categories of IUCN, and take necessary conservation action.

 

For images - - click here

 

References

 

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Biju, P.,  E.J.  Josekutty,  D. Rekha  &  R.I. John (2017). Strobilanthes jomyi (Acantheceae), a remarkable new species from South India. Phytotaxa 332(1): 075–080. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.332.1.8

Bridson, D. & L. Forman (1998). The Herbarium Handbook. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, 334pp.

Gopalan, R. & V. Chithra (2008). Strobilanthes pothigaiensis (Acanthaceae) - a new species from Southern Western Ghats, India. Kew Bulletin 63(3): 499–501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-008-9042-x

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Josekuty, E.J., Biju, P. & J. Augustine (2017). Notes on the extended distribution of two threatened species of Strobilanthes Blume (Acanthaceae) in Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10236–10239. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3186.9.5.10236-10239

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