Gomphostemma eriocarpum Benth. (Lamiaceae) - a new record for the Eastern Ghats,
India
C.
Sudhakar Reddy 1 & Chiranjibi Pattanaik 2
1 Forestry and
Ecology Division, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Hyderabad, Andhra
Pradesh 500625, India
2 Salim Ali
Centre for Ornithology & Natural History, Deccan Regional Station,
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500017, India
Email: 1drsudhakarreddy@gmail.com, 2 chiranjibipattanaik@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Date of
publication (online): 26 October 2011
Date of
publication (print): 26 October 2011
ISSN
0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: N.P.
Balakrishnan
Manuscript details:
Ms # o1709
Received 16 January 2007
Final received 29 September 2011
Finally accepted 10 October 2011
Citation: Reddy, C.S.
& C. Pattanaik (2011). Gomphostemma eriocarpum Benth. (Lamiaceae)- a new record for the Eastern Ghats, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 3(10): 2147–2150.
Copyright: © C.
Sudhakar Reddy & Chiranjibi Pattanaik 2011. Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use
of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Acknowledgements: The authors
are thankful to the Department of Space and Department of Biotechnology,
Government of India, for the financial support;greatly indebted to Dr. M.S.R. Murthy and Late Dr. M. Brahmam, for their
constant encouragement and support. We express our gratitude to the authorities
of Orissa Forest Department officials for granting permission and assisting
during the field visit. Thanks to Mr. Benjamin Franklin, research scholar for
critical examination of the species at BSI Herbarium, Southern Circle, Coimbatore.
As part of a project
entitled “Biodiversity characterization at landscape level in Eastern Ghats”
using remote sensing and Geographical Information System, the authors visited
Malkangiri District of Orissa for botanical exploration. The Sileru West Reserve Forest, located
in Kondakamberu Hill range of Malkangiri District in Orissa is situated between
18006’N and 82007’E at an altitude of more than
1000m. It is a part of the Eastern
Ghats, possessing undulating topography with rocky boulders at some
places. Sandy and clay type soil
predominate the entire district. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures are 11.2 and 44 0C
in the months of December and May, respectively. Humidity is generally high especially in the monsoon and
post monsoon months. It receives
about 1500mm rainfall annually. Major portion of the annual rainfall is received during southwest
monsoon between June to September. This hill range is floristically rich
and the vegetation is mostly moist deciduous mixed with few dry deciduous
elements. According to Champion
and Seth’s classification (1968), the forest type is categorized as southern
tropical moist deciduous forest. Several plant species were collected during the study and the species were identified by referring the regional floras.
Previous botanical explorations:The pioneering floristic work along peninsular India began with Plants of the
Coromandel Coast by William Roxburgh (1795–1820). Some account of the vegetation of
Orissa is mentioned in J.D. Hooker and T. Thomson’s Flora Indica (1855). The
Flora of British India by J.D. Hooker (1872–1897) recorded stray
collections from Orissa. Haines’ Botany of Bihar and Orissa (1921–1925)
and its Supplement by H.F. Mooney (1950) and J.S. Gamble’s Flora of the
Presidency of Madras (1915–1936) are the important floristic works
pertaining to the flora of Orissa. Haines described 2529 plant species, out of which only 30% are reported
from Orissa region. Mooney added 150 species to botany besides notes on a
number of species described by Haines. Gamble’s flora is mostly restricted to
southern parts of Orissa. Few
sporadic floristic works were carried out by C.E.C. Fischer (1904) followed by
D.B. Mukherjee (1935), M.B. Raizada (1948), K.S. Srinivasan & G.V.S. Rao
(1961), G. Panigrahi (1963), S.L. Kapoor (1964), and S. Panda & A.P. Das
(2004). H.O. Saxena & M.
Brahmam (1994–1996) published the Flora of Orissa in four volumes and
reported 2727 species belonging to 1062 genera represented by 228
families. Gomphostemma eriocarpumBenth. has not been reported from Orissa in any of the
earlier publications. Therefore,
it is reported here with details such as distribution, brief description,
habitat, phenological data, material examined in other Herbarium and biotic
association. The voucher specimens
are deposited at Herbarium of Regional Research Laboratory (RRL-B),
Bhubaneswar.
Gomphostemma eriocarpum Benth. inWall. Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 12. 1830–1831; Hook.f. Fl. Brit. India 4: 698.
1885; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 2: 809. 1957 (repr.ed). G. oblongum wight., Ic. t. 1457. 1849. (Lamiaceae).
Description: Slender, erect,
perennial herbs up to 75cm tall. Leaves elliptic-oblong or oblanceolate, base acute, margin sharply
dentate, apex acuminate, up to 15cm long and 5cm broad, scabrid above (Image
1); petioles up to 2.5cm long. Cymes of the whorls sessile. Flowers light yellow. Bracts lanceolate,
shorter than calyx. Calyx-teeth ribbed, linear-lanceolate, ca 1.25cm long. Corolla ca 3.7cm long, pubescent;
corolla-tube exserted, up to 4mm long, very slender. Fruits nutlets.
Habitat: Rare in moist deciduous
forests.
Specimen examined: 02.i.2004, near Sileru
West Reserve Forest Malkangiri District, Orissa, ±1000 m altitude, coll. C.S.
Reddy & C. Pattanaik (3218). A
good population of mature individuals was observed in the study area.
Distribution: Indomalayan region. In India: Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The present exploration of the species
from Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border is an extended of distribution from the
southern states. From earlier
collection, it was observed that the species confined to the Western Ghats
region but the present study found the species in the Eastern Ghats region also
(Image 2). It has not been
reported earlier from the Eastern Ghats region.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting
between August and January.
Specimens Consulted: The collected species
is matched with the authentic herbarium specimens stored at MH, Coimbatore.
D.B. Deb 30422, Pamba, Kottayam District, Kerala, 27.vi.1968; M. Chandrabose
49190, Ranni, Quilon District, Kerala, 21.xi.1976; M. Mohanan 59324, Way to
Agasthyakudam, Trivandrum District, Kerala, 20.ii.1979; M. Mohanan 69253,
Ponmudi, Trivandrum District, Kerala, 16.viii.1980; B.V. Shetty 28007, slope of
Mahendragiri, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, 27.vii.1966; R. Gopalan 886719,
Kannikatty R.F., Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, 18.ix.1988.
Biotic association: It is found to grow near
moist and shady localities in moist deciduous forests. The associated species
are Barleria
strigosa Willd., Hemigraphis latebrosa(Heyne ex Roth) Nees, Desmodium
gangeticum (L.) DC., Globba marantina L., Leea asiatica(L.) Ridsdale and Thespesia
lampas (Cav.) Dalz. & Gibs.
Remarks: The species has so far
been reported only from the Western Ghats of southern India (Sasidharan 2004)
and the present collection from the Eastern Ghats is of phytogeographical
significance.
Champion, H.G. & S.K. Seth
(1968). A Revised Survey of the Forest
Types of India. Manager of
Publications, Delhi, 404pp.
Fischer,
C.E.C. (1904). Notes on the flora of
northern Ganjam. Journal
of the Bombay Natural History Society 15: 537–556.
Gamble,
J.S. & C.E.C. Fischer (1915–1936). Flora
of the Presidency of Madras. London. (Reprinted ed.
1957), Calcutta, 1685pp.
Haines,
H.H. (1921-1925). The Botany of Bihar and Orissa. Adlard & Son Ltd., London, 233pp.
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J.D. (ed.) 1872-1897). The Flora of British India(7 volumes). Reeve & Co. Ltd.,
NR, Ashford, Kent, London, 1172pp.
Hooker, J.D. & T. Thomson
(1855). Flora
Indica. London, 785pp.
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S.L. (1964). Contribution to our knowledge
of the flora of Mahendragiri Hills of Orissa. Journal of the Bombay Natural
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H.F. (1950). Supplement
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D.B. (1935). Notes on a collection of
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Society 14: 305–311.
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G. (1963). Gandhamardan Parbat, Orissa - A potential
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Laboratory (Jammu) 1: 111–116.
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M.B. (1948). Some interesting plants from
Orissa. Journal
of the Bombay Natural History Society 48: 667–680.
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W. (1795-1819). Plants of the Coast of
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London, 370pp.
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Research Institute, Peechi.
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of Orissa. Vol 1-4, Orissa Forest
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(1961). The flora of Parlakimedi
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