Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 17045–17048

 

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

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4978.12.14.17045-17048

#4978 | Received 23 March 2019 | Final received 19 July 2020 | Finally accepted 29 September 2020

 

 

New distribution record of two endemic plant species, Euphorbia kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju (Euphorbiaceae) and Lepidagathis keralensis Madhus. & N.P. Singh (Acanthaceae), for Karnataka, India

 

P. Raja 1, N. Dhatchanamoorthy 2, S. Soosairaj 3 & P. Jansirani 4 

 

1 PG & Research Department of Botany, J.J. College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu 622422, India.

2 National Herbarium of Medicinal Plants and Repository of Raw Drug, School of Conservation of Natural Resources, Trans Disciplinary University (TDU), Foundation for Revitalisation of Health Traditions (FRLHT), 74/2, Jarakabande Kaval, Yelahanka, Bengaluru,

Karnataka 560064, India.

3 Department of Botany, St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620002, India.

4 PG & Research Department of Botany, The Madura College (Autonomous), Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625011, India.

1 raja.plantbiology@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 dhatcha@gmail.com, 3 pspsoosai@yahoo.co.in, 4 jansishankar@gmail.com

 

 

Editor: V. Sampath Kumar, Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore, India. Date of publication: 26 October 2020 (online & print)

 

Citation: Raja, P., N. Dhatchanamoorthy, S. Soosairaj & P. Jansirani (2020). New distribution record of two endemic plant species, Euphorbia kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju (Euphorbiaceae) and Lepidagathis keralensis Madhus. & N.P. Singh (Acanthaceae), for Karnataka, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(14): 17045–17048. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4978.12.14.17045-17048

 

Copyright: © Raja et al. 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: The first author acknowledge the Karnataka Biodiversity Board, Bangalore for the financial assistance.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the office of the PCCF and member secretary, Karnataka Biodiversity Board and deputy conservator of forest, range forest officers and other forest officials of Yadgiri, Ghataprabha and Kundapura forest divisions, Karnataka.

 

 

Euphorbia L., sensu lato is a cosmopolitan genus distributed almost throughout the world.  It comprises 1,836 species in the world, of which 84 species indigenous or naturalized  and three species are cultivated in India (Binojkumar & Balakrishnan 2010, 2012).  Recently Euphorbia kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju (2014), Euphorbia gokakensis S.R. Yadav, Malpure & Chandore (2016), and Euphorbia seshachalamensis Prasad & Prasanna (2016) were added to the Indian flora as new species.

Lepidagathis Willd. comprises about 100 species, mainly distributed in the tropical and warm regions of the world (Mabberley 2017).  In India, the genus is represented by 23 species and eight varieties, among them 15 species are endemic to the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of southern India (Nayar et al. 2014; Singh et al. 2015).

During a recent botanical exploration in Karnataka State, we collected specimens of two interesting species of the genera Euphorbia and Lepidagathis.  After thorough scrutiny in previously published Floras and research articles (Binojkumar & Balakrishnan 2010, 2012; Sarojinidevi & Reddivenkatraju 2014; Madhusoodanan & Singh 1992), they were identified as E. kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju (Euphorbiaceae), endemic to Andhra Pradesh and L. keralensis Madhus. & N.P. Singh (Acanthaceae), an endemic species of Kerala.  Euphorbia kadapenis was described by Sarojinidevi & Raju in 2014 from the Kadappa District of Andhra Pradesh while L. keralensis was described by Madhusoodanan & Singh in 1992 from the west coast of Kerala and so far has not been reported from Karnataka.  Hence the present collections form new distributional records of the species for Karnataka.
A brief description, distribution and photographs are provided here for easy identification.

 

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju

Phytotaxa 181(3): 179, ff. 1‒2. 2014. (Image 1, 2)

Slender herb, erect‒decumbent, 10‒25 cm long.  Stem terete, dichotomously branched, greenish-pink, glabrous‒sparsely pubescent, nodes thickened, latex milky; stipules scaly, 1mm long, shortly laciniate. Leaves simple, opposite, oblong, 5‒20 × 3.5‒9.5 mm, base oblique, apex obtusely acute, margins distantly serrulate, apiculate, glabrous, glaucous beneath, mid-nerve prominent, lateral nerves 4‒7 pairs.  Petioles 1‒1.5 mm long. Cyathia terminal and subterminal.  Involucre turbinate, ca 4 × 2 mm, glabrous; lobes 5, laciniate; glands 4, yellow, appendages of glands 2 × 2 mm, white‒pink.  Pistillate flowers 5.5 × 3.0 mm, glabrous, pedicel 2.5‒3 mm long; pistil tricarpellary; style 3, free from base, 2mm long; stigma simple.  Fruiting pedicel pendulous.  Capsule trigonus, glabrous, 3‒4 mm long; seeds 3, brownish, 2 × 1.5 mm, oblong‒ovate, tetragonal, transversely ridged, truncate at base,

Specimens Examined: Karnataka: Yadgiri District, Royangole, 16.280°N & 76.393°E, 484m, 01.ix.2017, P. Raja 2586. Belagavi District, Midukanatti, 16.022°N & 74.768°E at 742m, 07.x.2017, P. Raja 2407.

Flowering & Fruiting: September to November.

Habitat & Ecology: This species is located at dry deciduous forests and are associated with Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq., Mundulea sericea (Willd.) A.Chev., Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schsult. & Schult.f., Phyllanthus maderaspatensis L. and Oropetium thomaeum (L.f.) Trin.

Distribution: Endemic to peninsular India previously known only from the Kadappa District of Andhra Pradesh.  Now its distribution is extended up to Karnataka.

IUCN status: Not evaluated.

 

Acanthaceae

Lepidagathis keralensis Madhus. & N.P. Singh

Kew Bull. 47: 301, f.3. 1992.  (Image 3)             

Prostrate herb, rootstock woody.  Stem quadrangular, much branched, rooting at nodes, glabrous.  Leaves oblong‒lanceolate, 10 × 3 mm, base acute, apex acute‒acuminate, margins entire with purple, glabrous, nerves prominent, 3–4 pairs.  Spikes 1‒3, terminal, procumbent, 2cm long.  Flowers pink with yellow palate, sessile, 1cm long; sterile bracts many, oblong‒lanceolate, 10‒13 × 3.5‒4.0 mm, densely pubescent, 5-nerved, sharply pointed mucronate at apex, ca 1.5mm long, persistent.  Calyx deeply 5-lobed; lobes unequal, 8‒8.5 × 2‒2.5 mm, persistent, similar to bracts, villous.  Corolla 8.5‒10.0 mm long, densely pubescent in bud, tube cylindric below, ca 3mm long, 2-lipped; upper lip 2-lobed, erect or reflexed; lower lip 3-lobed.  Stamens 4, didynamous, ca 6 mm long, sparsely hairy, anthers 2-celled, 1.5‒2.0 mm long, pubescent.  Disc annular.  Pistil ca 8 mm long; ovary subglobose‒ovoid, 1.5‒2.0 mm long, 2-celled, glabrous, ovules 2; style slender, 6.5‒8.0 mm long, pubescent at lower ventral region with glands; stigma capitate, slightly bifid.  Capsule compressed, ca 6mm long, glabrous; seeds 2, flat, soft, pubescent with white aril.

Specimens examined: Karnataka, Udupi District, Hiriadica, 13.303°N & 74.855°E at 37m, 25 March 2018, P. Raja, 2529.

Flowering & Fruiting: February to April.

Habitat & Ecology: This species is found growing in open places at the forest border, with Naregamia alata Wight & Arn., Ixora coccinea L., and Canthium coromandelicum (Burm.f.) Alston.

Distribution: Endemic to peninsular India in the western coast of Kerala and Karnataka at low elevations.

IUCN status: Not evaluated

 

 

For images - - click here

 

 

References

 

Binojkumar, M.S. & N.P. Balakrishnan (2010). The genus Euphorbia (L.) Euphorbiaceae in India, a taxonomic revision. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, 430pp.

Binojkumar, M.S. & N.P. Balakrishnan (2012). Tribe Euphorbieae, pp. 270‒340. In: Balakrishnan, N.P., T. Chakrabarthy, M. Sanjappa, P. Lakshminarasimhan & P. Singh (eds.). Flora of India Volume 23. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 558pp.

Mabberley, D.J. (2017). Mabberley’s Plant Book: A portable dictionary of plants, their classification, and uses. Fourth Edition. Cambridge University Press, UK, 1102pp.

Madhusoodanan, P.V. & N.P. Singh (1992). A New Species of Lepidagathis (Acnathaceae) from South India. Kew Bulletin 47(2): 301‒303. 

Malpure, N.V., A.N. Chandore & S.R. Yadav (2016). Euphorbia goka-kensis (Euphorbiaceae) from sandstone formations in Karnataka, India. Nordic Journal of Botany 34(3): 380–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.00997  

Nayar, T.S., A.R. Beegam & M. Sibi (2014). Flowering Plants of the Western Ghats, India. Vol. 1. Dicots. Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, 35‒38pp.

Prasad, K. & P.V. Prasanna (2016). Euphorbia seshachalamensis (Euphorbiaceae) a new species from Andhra Pradesh, India. Annales of Botanici Fenneci 53(1–2): 73–76. https://doi.org/10.5735/085.053.0214

Sarojinidevi, N. & R. Reddyvenkatraju (2014). Euphorbia kadapensis (Euphorbiaceae), a new species from southern India. Phytotaxa 181(3): 179–183. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.181.3.6

Singh, P., K. Karthigeyan, P. Lakshminarasimhan & S.S. Dash (2015). Endemic Vascular Plants of India. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 339pp.