Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13811–13814
The Nepal Pipewort Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Commelinids: Poales: Eriocaulaceae): a new distribution record for southern India
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4759.11.6.13811-13814
Editor: N.P. Balakrishnan, Coimbatore, India. Date of publication: 26 April 2019 (online & print)
Manuscript details: #4759 | Received 12 December 2018 | Final received 13 February 2019 | Finally accepted 01 April 2019
Citation: Soumya, M. & M.C. Nair (2018). The Nepal Pipewort Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Commelinids: Poales: Eriocaulaceae): a new distribution record for southern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(6): 13811–13814; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4759.11.6.13811-13814
Copyright: © Soumya & Nair 2019. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Govt. of Kerala.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The first author is thankful to Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Govt. of Kerala for the financial support by way of its Fellowship in Taxonomy. The authors are thankful to (Late) Dr. P.K.K. Nair, Former Director, Dr. G. Achuthan Nair, Director, Dr. P.K. Shaji, Deputy Director and Scientist, ERRC for their helpful suggestions and encouragement. Maya C. Nair would like to thank the Director of Collegiate Education, Govt. of Kerala and Principal, Govt. Victoria College Palakkad for their support and encouragement.
The genus Eriocaulon L. (Eriocaulaceae) is one of the diverse genera distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Linnaeus (1753), while enumerating the genus Eriocaulon, recognised four species, of which three were from India. Ansari & Balakrishnan (1994) described 65 species from India and categorised them under 12 sections in their revision of Indian Eriocaulaceae. Ansari & Balakrishnan (2009) further revised the genus and reported 80 species from India. Since then more species have been described from southern India by subsequent floristic explorations (Yadav et al. 2008; Shimpale et al. 2009; Vivek et al. 2010; Nampy et al. 2011; Swapna et al. 2012; Rashmi & Krishnakumar 2014; Manudev et al. 2015; Sunil et al. 2015; Anto & Resma 2017; Darshetkar et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2017; Manudev et al. 2017; Sunil et al. 2017).
During the floristic exploration in the Kollengode range of forests in Nemmara Forest Division of southern Western Ghats, we came across an interesting specimen of Eriocaulon growing in the Manpara region of Nelliyampathy Hills and was identified as Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn., hitherto unknown from any of the southern Indian states.
Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium
(Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn. in Kew Bull. 67: 664. 2012
Eriocaulon luzulifolium (sphalm.: luzulaefolium) Mart. in Wall., Pl. Asiat. Rar. 3: 28. 1832; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 582. (1893). Eriocaulon pumilio Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 581. 1893; Eriocaulon lepidum T. Koyama, Philipp. J. Sci. 84: 371. 1956. Eriocaulon papuanum P. Royen, Nova Guinea, Bot. 10: 37. 1959. Eriocaulon kathmanduense Satake, Bull. Univ. Mus. Univ. Tokyo 2: 157. 1971. Eriocaulon pseudonepalense Satake, Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 26: 50. 1974.
Acaulescent herbs. Root stock conical, 2.5–3 cm × 0.81cm. Leaves rosulate, oblong-lanceolate, apiculate up to 9–12 cm × 0.8–1.5 cm, glabrous. Sheaths up to 6–7 cm long, glabrous, margin entire, limb apex split into 2 or 3 acute lobes. Peduncles 16–18 in number, erect upto 21–25 cm, 6-ribbed. Heads ovoid, 3mm × 5mm across, pale black or grey. Receptacle ovoid, pilose. Involucral bracts 1.5mm × 1.2mm, orbicular – obovate, lacerate, grey-coloured, glabrous. Floral bracts 2mm × 0.85mm, oblanceolate, acuminate, hoary towards tip, black. Male flowers: pedicel 0.5mm long, sepals obovate, connate into a spathe at the base, upper portion divided into three acute lobes, hoary towards tip, black. Petals 3, acuminate, minute. Anthers 6, globose, black. Female flowers: Pedicel 0.3–0.4 mm long. Sepals 3, 1.7mm long, free, similar, linear, acute, hoary towards apex, black. Petals 3, equal, hyaline, 1.5mm long, eglandulose, stipitate between sepals and petals. Ovary 0.3mm, sub-sessile, ovoid, style 0.2mm, stigma 0.3mm, 3 fid. Seeds ellipsoid, 0.5mm × 0.2mm, yellow, cells of seed coat transversely elongated, aligned in vertical rows, appendages 1–4 from the middle of transverse radial walls. Appendages setiform, retuse at the apex (Image 1).
Phenology: August–October.
Habitat: This plant was observed in waterlogged areas in evergreen forests.
Specimen examined: 1126 (ERRC), 177799 (MH), 25.ix.2015, India, Kerala, Palakkad District, Kollengode range, Manpara, 10.5220N & 76.7470E, 1275m, coll. Soumya & Maya (Image 2).
Distribution: Thailand, Nepal-Himalaya to southern China, New Guinea, Srilanka, India (Assam, Manpara (Nelliampathy Hills) of Kerala part of the Western Ghats).
Conservation status: Field explorations revealed that the plant taxon is rare in occurrence and only a single population with a small number of individuals inhabiting the Manpara region of Kollengode range forests was found. Analysing the global distribution informed that the plant taxa is observed to thrive in humid climatic conditions of higher altitudes above 1000m. The current status of the species is assigned to be Least Concern as per IUCN Version 2018-2 (IUCN 2018).
Additional specimens examined: Kew digital herbarium barcode ID: K000098620, K000098635 and K000098704.
Nomenclature notes: Eriocaulon nepalense Prescott ex Bong. and Eriocaulon luzulifolium Mart. were described as separate species in Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. (1830) and Pl. Asiat. Rar. (1832), respectively. Later on Prajaksood et al. (2012) proposed a new combination, Eriocaulon nepalense Prescott ex Bong. var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn. comb. et stat. nov. The specific epithets Eriocaulon luzulifolium Mart., Eriocaulon pumilio Hook. f., Eriocaulon lepidum T. Koyama, Eriocaulon papuanum P. Royen, Eriocaulon kathmanduense Satake, Eriocaulon pseudonepalense Satake were treated as synonyms. It is also noted that, as per IPNI, Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn. is the correct name and Eriocaulon luzulifolium Mart. forms the basionym from which the name of variety ‘luzulifolium’ was derived.
Taxonomic delineation from Eriocaulon nepalense Prescott ex Bong.: The specimen differs from the typical variety in having acute leaf apex, entire margin and more or less pilose receptacle. Root stock is elongated, stout and densely fibrous. Prajaksood et al. (2012) observed that the distribution of Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium is wider than the typical variety and the morphology of the taxon is influenced by growth conditions.
Taxonomic delineation of Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium from the other taxa recognised in the ‘Flora of Presidency of Madras’: The taxon Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn. has not been enlisted in the Flora of Presidency of Madras. The combination of characters such as presence of rootstock, split leaf sheath apex, 6-ribbed peduncle, 16–18 peduncles, pilose receptacle, grey coloured glabrous involucral bract, three male sepal lobes, presence of black anthers and seed coat surface with 1–4 appendages from the middle of transverse radial walls clearly demarcates this from the other allied taxa in the genus Eriocaulon. Table 1 summarizes the critical comparison of Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium with 29 taxa under the genus Eriocaulon (comprising 25 species and 4 varieties) enumerated in the Flora of Presidency of Madras (Gamble 1915–1936).
Table 1. Taxonomic delineation of Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn.
from the other taxa recognized in the ‘Flora of Presidency of Madras’.
Characters |
E. nepalense var. luzulifolium (Mart.) Praj. & J. Parn. |
Taxa compared |
Habitat |
Terrestrial waterlogged areas |
E. setaceum L.—Aquatic plant in which stems remain submerged, and only the peduncles emerge out of water |
Nature of sheath |
The apex of sheath is split into 2 or 3 acute lobes. |
E. longicuspis Hook. f. var. polycephala Fyson & E. odoratum Dalz.—The mouth of the sheath enclosing the leaves were distinctly oblique and closed |
Number of peduncles |
About 16-18 peduncles |
E. pectinatum Ruhl. & E. robustum Steud.—Usually solitary peduncle |
Number of ribs in peduncle |
Six ribs |
E. quinquangulare L., E. collinum Hook. f. & E. conicum Fischer—Five, Five-Eight and Five respectively. |
Receptacle |
Pilose |
E. melaleucum Mart., E. ritchieanum Ruhl. & E. truncatum Ham., E. sieboldianum Sieb & Zucc—Glabrous |
Involucral bracts and flowers |
Involucral bracts were not longer than floral bracts |
E. dianae Fyson, E. dianae var. longibracteata Fyson, E. dianae var. richardiana Fyson & E. xeranthemum Mart.—Involucral bracts were longer than floral bracts and flowers |
Nature of involucral bract |
Glabrous |
E. brownianum Mart. var. nilagirense, E. robusto-brownianum Ruhl. & E. lanceolatum Miq.—Pilose |
Colour of involucral bract
|
Grey |
E. margaretae Fyson & E. elenorae Fyson—Hyaline |
Number of sepals |
Three |
E. cuspidatum Dalz., E. stellulatum Koern., E. sexangulare L., E. ensiforme Fischer, E. vanheurckii Muell. Arg., E. minutum Hook. f., E. thwaitesii Koern. & E. gamblei Fischer—Two |
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