Gentiana saginoides Burkill (Magnoliopsida: Gentianales: Gentianaceae) rediscovered from Sunderdhunga Valley in Uttarakhand 155 years after description: notes on its population status

Main Article Content

Dharmendra S. Rawat
Charan S. Rana
Harish Singh
Manish Karnatak

Abstract

Gentiana saginoides Burkill (Gentianaceae) was described by Burkill in 1906 based on a collection from Sunderdhunga, Uttarakhand by T. Anderson in 1857. The species was not collected after its type collection despite attempts by several workers in the past. A field survey in and around the type locality was conducted in June 2012 and the species was re-discovered after a lapse of 155 years since its type collection. The species is tentatively categorised as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on field observations. A full description and diagrams of the species are provided here based on new specimens collected.

Article Details

Section
Notes

References

Agrawal, S. (1982). Revision of the family Gentianaceae of North West Himalaya. D Phil Thesis, Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, India, iv+592p.

Agrawal, S. (1983). Some rare gentians, pp. 272–275. In: Jain, S.K. & R.R. Rao (eds.) An Assessment of Threatened Plants of India. BSI, Calcutta.

APG IV (2016). An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 181:1-20.

Bharti, R., B.S. Adhikari & G.S. Rawat (2011). Assessing vegetation changes in timberline ecotone of Nanda Devi National Park, Uttarakhand. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2011.09.018

Burkill, I.H. (1906). Gentianacearum species asiaticas novas descripsit. Journal and Proceeding Asiatic Society of Bengal 2: 309–327.

Dhar, U. (2002). Conservation implications of plant endemism in high-altitude Himalaya. Current Science 82: 141–148.

Garg, S. (1987). Gentianaceae of Northwest Himalaya: A Revision. Today and Tomorrow’s Print & Publ., New Delhi, 342pp.

Garg, S. (1988). Indian Gentianaceae: A checklist. Northern Book Centre, New Delhi, 42pp.

IUCN (2001). IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. IUCN Species Survival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 30pp.

Jain, S.K. & R.R. Rao (1976). A Handbook of Field and Herbarium Method. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers & Publ., New Delhi, 157pp.

Korner, C. (1999). Alpine Plant Life. Springer. 338pp.

Rao, C.K., B.L. Geetha & G. Suresh (2003). Red List of Threatened Vascular Plant Species in India Compiled from the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. ENVIS BSI, Howrah, India, 144pp.

Rawat, D.S. (2009). A presumed extinct endemic alpine herb Gentiana tetrasepala rediscovered after 123 years: will it survive? National Academy Science Letters 32: 169–172.

Rawat, D.S. & C.S. Rana (2007). Arenaria curvifolia Majumdar (Caryophyllaceae): An endangered and endemic Himalayan herb rediscovered. Current Science 92: 1486–1487.

Rawat, D.S. & S. Chandra (2014). Presumed extinct Dipcadi reidii (Asparagaceae) recollected after 127 years from Uttarakhand, India. Rheedea 24(1): 1–4.

Singh, C.P., S. Panigrahi, A. Thapliyal, M.M. Kimothi, P. Soni & J.S. Parihar (2012). Monitoring the alpine treeline shift in parts of the Indian Himalayas using remote sensing. Current Science 102: 559-562.

Uniyal, B.P., J.R. Sharma, U. Choudhery & D.K. Singh (2007). Flowering plants of Uttarakhand. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, India 404pp.