Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2024 | 16(2): 24807–24811
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8853.16.2.24807-24811
#8853 | Received 23 November 2023 | Final received 15 December 2023 |
Finally accepted 29 January 2024
Plagiochila javanica
(Sw.) Nees & Mont. (Marchantiophyta:
Plagiochilaceae) rediscovered from the Western Ghats
after 180 years
M.S. Sajitha
1, C.N. Manju 2, B. Mufeed 3,
K.P. Rajesh 4 & K.K. Rawat 5
1,2,3 Bryology Division, Department of
Botany, University of Calicut, Calicut University P.O, Malappuram District,
Kerala 679635, India.
4 Department of Botany, the
Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College (affiliated to the University of Calicut), GA
College PO, Kozhikode, Kerala 673014, India.
5 Plant
Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research
Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001, India.
1 sajimenon.saradha@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 manjucali@gmail.com, 3 mufeednaja@gmail.com,
4 kprajesh.botany@gmail.com, 5
drkkrawat@rediffmail.com
Editor: Tamás Pócs, Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary. Date of
publication: 26 February 2024 (online & print)
Citation: Sajitha, M.S., C.N. Manju, B. Mufeed,
K.P. Rajesh & K.K. Rawat (2024). Plagiochila
javanica (Sw.) Nees
& Mont. (Marchantiophyta: Plagiochilaceae)
rediscovered from the Western Ghats after 180 years. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(2): 24807–24811. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8853.16.2.24807-24811
Copyright: © Sajitha et al. 2024. 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: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: Sajitha
is thankful to CSIR,New
Delhi for the award of Research Fellowship. Manju and Mufeed
are thankful to the DST-SERB for funding the Core Research Grant in the
Department of Botany,University
of Calicut. We acknowledge the authorities of the Department of Botany, University
of Calicut for the facilities provided. We thank the Kerala Forest &
Wildlife Department for giving permission to visit the field and its staff
members at Meppadi range in Wayanad district for the
support during the field studies. We also thank the Aranyakam
Nature Foundation for the support during the field study. KPR & KKR are
thankful respectively to the authorities of the Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan
College, Kozhikode, Kerala, India and CSIR-National Botanical Research
Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India for the support.
Abstract: Plagiochila javanica, a widespread Asiatic member of
the liverwort family Plagiochilaceae, is rediscovered
from Western Ghats of Kerala, India after about 180 years of its first record
from the country. The present discovery is a new record for Kerala state. A
detailed description along with illustrations and images of the species are
provided.
Keywords: 900 kandi,
India, Kerala, liverwort, new record, Wayanad district.
Plagiochilaceae, one of the largest families of
liverworts, consists of 82 members from India (Singh et al. 2016). The present
taxon, Plagiochila javanica
(Sw.) Nees & Mont. (sect. Vagae
Lindenb.; Söderström et al.
2016) was described over 240 years ago from Indonesia (Java) as Jungermannia
javanica Sw. (Swartz 1781: 35) and was
transferred to the genus Plagiochila by Nees von Esenbeck & Montagne
(1836: 52). Montagne (1842) subsequently reported the species from Nilgiri Hills from Western Ghats, where it had been
collected from avalanche by the Swiss botanist and horticulturalist George
Samuel Perrottet (1790–1870). Chopra (1943) and
Parihar et al. (1994) wrongly listed the species from western Himalayas; Bapna & Kachroo (2000)
described it from both western Himalaya and Nilgiri
Hills but the taxon is totally omitted by Kachroo
(1973) in his enumerations. Verma et al. (2015)
mentioned the occurrence of this species in Nilgiri
hills based on Montagne (1842). After the original collection, there is no
other report of this species based on fresh collections from anywhere in India.
Hence the present collection of this species from Wayanad district of Kerala is
its rediscovery in Indian bryoflora after more than
180 years and is a new record for Kerala state.
Materials and Methods
The plant was collected from “900
Kandi”, a tourist spot in Wayanad District in the Western Ghats of Kerala,
India. The specimen was collected in June 2023 from a rock surface. Its
morphological characters were studied using a Leica S Apo Stereo Microscope and
anatomical features with an Olympus CX21liLED Compound microscope. The digital
images with appropriate scales were made using a Magcam
DC5 5.1MP, 1/2.5 CMOS Sensor camera with Magnus Analytics MagVision
(x64.4.8.15674.2-01991008) software. Line diagrams were based on digital
microscopic images. The collected specimens were air dried and kept in
herbarium packets of standard size. The voucher specimens were deposited in the
University of Calicut Herbarium (CALI).
Taxonomic treatment
Plagiochila javanica (Sw.) Nees
& Mont., Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 2, 5: 52.
1836. Jungermannia javanica Sw., Meth. Musc. 35.
1781. – Type: Indonesia, Java, Thunberg s.n. (ex herb. Swartz, S, H-SOL) (Figure 1; Image 1).
Plants medium sized, 3.0–3.6 cm
long and 5 mm wide (with leaves), yellowish-green, soft textured, not glossy;
leafy stems erect from short creeping rhizomatous caulids,
branching terminal (dichotomous) as well as lateral-intercalary (only to one
side), rhizoids absent on aerial shoots, stem light brown, dorsally exposed and
fully hidden ventrally. Branches as strong as main stem, apices attenuate. Stem
in cross section 11–13 cells across, cortex 2–3 layered, cells 9.8–14 x 4.2–12
µm, thick-walled; medullary cells 13.9–20.5 x 10.0–16.0 µm, thin-walled. Leaves
imbricate to contiguous normally and towards the tip it is contiguous to remote
, obliquely horizontally spreading, oblong-ovate to broadly ovate, 1.5–1.7 mm
long, 0.8–1.2 x 0.5–0.6 mm wide, dorsal margin straight with a partially
concave basal part, longly decurrent, entire or with
1–2 teeth near apex, ventral margin arched, slightly overlapping with opposite
leaf base, moderately decurrent, incurved at base, with 9–11 teeth; teeth 2–5
cells long, 2–3 cells wide at base, leaf apex toothed with 2–3 small teeth, the
apical teeth not larger than those of the ventral margin 2 cells long and 2
cells wide. Cells near leaf apex 16.5–22.8 x 11.2–16.5 µm, median cells
21.5–30.0 x 11.5–19.0 µm, basal cells 23.0–34.8 x 16–22.5 µm, trigones small in
median leaf cells, medium-sized in basal cells; paraphyllia absent; underleaves very small, 2–3 lobed. Sexual and
asexual reproductive structures not observed.
Habitat: The species was found in west
coast semi evergreen forest at an altitude of 1,180 m, growing in a rocky
patch, associated with a number of other bryophytes like Racopilum
orthocarpum Wilson ex Mitt., Thuidium
koelzii H.Rob.,
Cephalozia darjeelingensis Udar & D.Kumar, Pinnatella sp., Trichostomum
tortelloides (Broth. & Dixon) R.H.Zander, and Fissidens pallidinervis
Mitt.
Distribution: In India this species was
earlier known from the Western Ghats of Nilgiri hills
(Montagne 1842). The present record is from “900 Kandi” in Wayanad District. Plagiochila javanica
is widely distributed in southeastern Asia and the Pacific, where it is known
from Thailand (Sukkharak et al. 2014), Vietnam
(GBIF), Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali, Sunda Islands), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and
Samoa (Piippo 1989, 1993).
Representative specimens
examined: India,
Kerala: Wayanad District, on the way to “900 Kandi”, on rock, 1,180 m
elevation, 10.vi.2023, Mufeed B. & K.P. Rajesh
195157, 195180a (CALI).
Discussion
A total of 17 species of Plagiochila are distributed all over southern
Western Ghats (Nilgiri Hills) (Srivastava et al.
2006; Verma et al. 2015), with a maximum number
coming under section Vagae Lindenb., viz., Plagiochila
beddomei Steph., P. indica
Mitt. ex Steph., P. nepalensis Lindenb., P. peradenyensis Schiffn., P. subtropica Steph.,
P. junghuhniana Sande Lac. and P. javanica (Sw.) Nees &
Mont. (Söderström et al. 2016). P. palangiensis S.C. Srivast.,
K.K. Rawat & P.K. Verma coming under sec. Zanteniae (Inoue) Inoue is endemic to
the southern Western Ghats (Nilgiri Hills)
(Srivastava et al. 2006) and P. sisparensis
Steph. under sect. Tayloriae
is endemic to Western Ghats-Sri Lanka hotspot (Verma
et al. 2015). According to Inoue (1984), P. javanica
is characterized by its distinct rhizomatous caulids,
terminal and intercalary branching, contiguous to imbricate leaves with a
shouldered but not ampliate ventral base, ventral
margin curved at basal half with variable number of teeth and with teeth at
leaf apex not larger than those of the leaf margin, and with vestigial underleaves. P. javanica
has frequent branching as described by Inoue (1984) and the present collection
shows very few branching. The Indian plants are comparatively smaller than the
description by Inoue (1984), this may be due to the habitat variation. The
large number of synonyms (see Inoue 1984; Piippo
1989; So 2000) indicates that the species is
morphologically highly variable.
For figure
& image - - click here for full PDF
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