Vicoa sahyadrica Nandikar & Sardesai, 2021

Nandikar, Mayur D. & Sardesai, Milind M., 2021, Vicoa sahyadrica (Asteraceae), a new species from Western India with a note on Dalzell’s Vicoa cernua and Heracleum grandiflorum, Phytotaxa 514 (3), pp. 275-286 : 280-284

Vicoa sahyadrica Nandikar & Sardesai , sp. nov. ( Figs. 2 , 3B & D )

Type:— INDIA. Maharashtra, Pune, Lonavala, Bhushi Dam to Tung Hills , 21 Nov. 2020, Nandikar & Sardesai 002811 (holotype: CAL; isotypes: AHMA, BSI, NGCPR, SUK) .

– Vicoa cernua sensu Hooker (1881: 297) , pro parte (excl. Ritchie 403, Belgaum); Cooke (1904: 32), pro parte quoad T. Cooke (BSI: 5741–43; 4539–40); Gosavi et al. (2020b: 291), quoad Figs. 2B ; 3B, D, F, H, J, L .

– Pentanema cernuum (Dalzell) Y.Ling sensu Hajra et al. (1995: 28) , pro parte.

– Vicoa indica sensu Cooke (1904: 32) , quoad J. S. Law (K, K000974582).

Diagnosis:— Vicoa sahyadrica shows similarities with V. cernua by its erect habit, distally auriculate, elliptic to lanceolate leaves, but differs in having cupuliform to tubular, 4–5 × 4 mm capitula, 6–12 bristles, and inconspicuous (1–2 mm) rays, whereas the latter species produces flat, 4–5 × 8–10 mm capitula, 1–2(–3) bristles, and distinct (8–10 mm) rays.

Annual, erect herb, 15–100 cm high. Stem unbranched, erect, faintly ribbed, proximal internodes 2–8 cm, glabrous, greyish brown, distally 1–4 cm, sparsely puberulous, green. Leaves alternate, distichous; proximal often early caducous, smaller, distinctly petiolate (0.8–1.1 cm), lamina ovate to elliptic-oblong, lanceolate 0.5–6 × 0.5–2.5(–3) cm, adaxial grey green, densely puberulous on veins, abaxial green, densely puberulous to puberulent; veins anastomosing, lateral nerves 6–7 pairs, margin repand to entire at base, serrate at distal, base attenuate, apex acute to acuminate; medial petiolate with attenuate base, distal petiolate to subsessile or sessile or cordate or decurrent or auriculate, ellipticlanceolate, 2–8(10) × 1–3.5 cm, surface, margin, apex similar to proximal leaves. Capitula heterogamous, cupuliform to tubular, 4–5 × 4 mm; bracteate, bract often foliaceous, subsessile or auriculate at base; peduncle filiform, 1–2.5 cm, lanate to puberulous, pale green; bracteole inconspicuous, lanate, elliptic; phyllaries multiseriate, spreading, graded and lengthening inwards, green to hyaline; outermost involucre lanceolate, 3–4.5 mm, thin, midvein green, hyaline laterally, sparsely clothed with multiseriate hairs, apex acuminate, lacerate; innermost involucre ensiform, ca. 3 mm, thick, green, surface similar to outer phyllaries, apex usually entire, rarely erose. Ray florets 20–30, pistillate, ca. 4 mm long; ligule oblong-elliptic, 1–2 mm, yellow, 3-lobed, sparsely glandular hairy, appendaged (reduced dorsal ligule) at base; tube ca. 2 mm, hyaline to yellow, sparsely glandular hairy; style ca. 5 mm, hyaline, stigma bipartite, papillose; ovary linear oblong, ca. 1 mm, with sparsely sericeous with pubescent apex with 6–12(–14) pappus of bristles, hyaline ca. 2 mm long (often reflexed at top) pappus of bristles. Disc florets many, hermaphrodite, ca. 4 mm, 5-lobed, lobes ovate, densely glandular, yellow; tube linear hyaline to yellowish green, sparsely glandular hairy; stamens ca. 4 mm, anthers ca. 3 mm, thecae linear, adnate to the style; ovary and pappus similar in ray florets. Achenes pale brown, oblong-elliptic, ca. 1 × 0.4 mm, sparsely sericeous, apex pubescent, stramineous, bearded with 6–12(–14) pappus of bristles.

Phenology:—Flowering October to December.

Habitat and distribution:— Frequent along forest margins, undergrowth, roadside drenches, old walls, prefers shade, 100–1300 m a.s.l.; apparently endemic to Maharashtra and Karnataka states of Peninsular India ( Fig. 5 ) .

IUCN status:—The species is endemic to Peninsular India and has a wide distribution range from Northern Maharashtra (Ghatang Ghat, Amravati) to Southern Karnataka (Kemmannugundi, Chikkamangaluru) . The Extent of Occurrence (EOO) is calculated as 200,080 km 2 and Area of Occupancy (AOO) is 44 km 2. Till now the species is reported from 11 localities; it is probable that it may occur at various places in the Western Ghats, thus the AOO will be considerably larger. The populations are stable, and no widespread threats have been observed or reported. Therefore, the species is assessed here as Least Concern (LC) following the IUCN guidelines (2019).

Etymology:—The specific epithet ‘ sahyadrica ’ denotes its occurrence in the Western Ghats of India, which is often called ‘Sahyadri’.

Notes:— Vicoa sahyadrica is sympatric with V. cernua but has seemingly been overlooked by the previous authors ( Cooke 1904, Woodrow 1898, Hajra et al. 1995) due to its similarities with V. cernua in unbranched habit, ellipticoblong to lanceolate, petiolate to auriculate leaves, and papillose disc florets.Although it is often difficult to differentiate V. sahyadrica based on herbarium specimens with unopened, spheroid capitula, their opened, small tubular capitula are diagnostic with the preceding species in which the capitula are large and more convex.

The description of V. cernua by Cooke (1904) as ‘ray florets linear, spreading longer than the involucre’ appears to be based on the collections partly housed at BSI and K, as many of his own collections evidently belong to V. sahyadrica with ‘inconspicuous ligulate ray flowers which are much shorter than the involucre’. The same portrayal was followed by Hajra et. al. (1995) in their treatment in Flora of India.

Some of the Dalzell collections from Concan at CAL also doubtfully belong to V. cernua due to their incomplete flower characters; however, due to the size of capitula (less than 5 mm wide) we assume that they belong to V. sahyadrica . Similarly, collections (see the specimens examined) by Law (?) housed at K and by Cooke and others housed at AHMA, BSI, and DD and labelled as V. cernua are identified as V. sahyadrica .

The collections from Khandala cited by Santapau (1953) and housed at BLAT were with doubts (often with remarks ‘tubular capitulum’, ‘juvenile nature’, ‘no ray florets’) labelled as Blumea and Vernonia but later corrected to V. cernua by Santapau himself; these collections are referred here to V. sahyadrica .

Specimens examined:— INDIA. Karnataka, Kemmannugundi, Chikkamagaluru , 08 Dec. 2012, B. S . Ahuja 6559 ( BSI). Maharashtra, Concan, s.d., J. S . Law? s.n. ( K000974582 ); Amboli Ghat, Sindhudurg, s.d., T . Cooke 5741–43 ( BSI); Mahabaleshwar , Satara, 1891, T . Cooke s.n.; ibid, W. A . Talbot 5582–83 ( BSI); Matheran , Raigad, s.d., T . Cooke 4539–40 ( BSI); ibid, 29 Nov. 1958, N. A . Irani 2558 ( BLAT); ibid, 4 Dec. 1954, Z . Kapadia 879 ( BLAT); Pune, s.d. s. coll. ( DD); Pune, Khandala , Nov. 1926, R . D. Acland 583 ( BLAT); ibid, 25 Nov. 1945, H . Santapau 8058 ( BLAT); ibid, 03 Nov. 1941, H . Santapau 161/36 ( BLAT); ibid, 02 Oct. 1943, H . Santapau 2854 ( BLAT); Pune , Purandar, 13 Oct. 1957, G. L . Shah 9274 ( BLAT); ibid, 11 Oct. 1950, H . Santapau 11472 ( BLAT); Law College Hills , Pune, s.d., V . D. Vartak 72 ( AHMA); Sinhagad, Pune , 06 Nov. 1956, V . D. Vartak 6988 ( AHMA); Waranghushi fort, 11 Oct. 1970, B. M . Wadhava 128395 ( BSI); Ghatang Ghat , Amaravati, 07 Nov. 1979, M. Y . Ansari 159601 ( BSI); Ravine above Bhushi Dam, Pune , 24 Nov. 1964, B . Venkata Reddi 101154 ( BSI); 12 miles west of Junnar, Ustad-Kaldane hill slopes, 30 Oct. 1964, Hemadri 104270 ( BSI); Bhuibawada Ghat , Sindhudurg , 23 Nov. 2020, J . Dalavi et al. 002814 ( NGCPR); Amba Ghat , Ratnagiri, 24 Nov. 2020, S. P . Bramhadande 002815 ( NGCPR); Pabe Ghats , Pune, 30 Nov. 2020, M. M . Sardesai 02816 ( NGCPR) .

Vicoa cernua Dalzell in Dalzell & Gibson (1861: 126, 314). Jacobaea cernua (Dalzell) Kuntze (1891: 347) . Inula dalzellii Handel-Mazzetti (1937: 632) . Inula cernua (Dalzell) Stewart (1972: 753) nom. illeg. non Bergius (1767). Pentanema cernuum (Dalzell) Ling (1965: 180) ( Figs. 3 A & C ).

Type:— INDIA. Concan , Raigad , Pen , Mirya Dongar, Nov. 1846, N. A. Dalzell (lectotype: K, barcode K000974584 , designated here)

( Fig. 4 ). = Vicoa gokhalei Gosavi et al. (2020b: 291) , syn. nov. Type:— INDIA. Maharashtra, Harishchandragad , 1432 m, 07 Dec. 2019, K. V. C. Gosavi & N. A. Madhav 5101 (holotype: CAL, isotypes:

BSI, SUK!, K n.v).

Annual, erect herb, 30–170 cm high. Stem branched, terete, ribbed, proximal internodes 2–3 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Leaves alternate, distichous; lamina elliptic-oblong, elliptic, ovate-oblong, adaxial grey green, sparsely puberulous on the veins, abaxial green, much puberulous on veins; veins anastomosing, margin entire at base, serrate at distal; proximal leaves petiolate (0.5–1.0 cm), lamina 1.5–2 × 5–6 cm, attenuate at base; medial, distal leaves, sessile, 1.5–12 × 1.0– 4.5 cm, amplexicaul at base. Capitula heterogamous, flat, 4–6 × 8–10 mm; receptacle convex, 3–8 mm across; peduncle 1–4 cm, densely pubescent; bract narrowly ovate, acuminate, 4–7 mm long, hyaline, densely pubescent abaxially; bracteole inconspicuous, elliptic; phyllaries multiseriate, narrowly linear-ovate to linear-oblong, 5–10 mm long, acuminate, recurved at apex, margin hyaline sparsely ciliated; innermost involucre ensiform, ca. 5 mm long, apex acuminate. Ray florets 25–40, pistillate, ca. 8–14 mm long; ligule oblong to narrowly elliptic-oblong, 6–10 mm long, sparsely glandular hairy, appendaged at base, 3-lobed, lobes spreading, acute equal to subequal; tube 2–3 mm long, glabrous outside, pale yellow; style ca. 2 mm long, glabrous, stigma bipartite, papillose; ovary oblong, 0.7–1 mm long, pubescent at apex with 2–4 pappus of bristles. Disc florets many, hermaphrodite, 3–4 mm long, 5- lobed, lobes ovate, acute, spreading, yellow; tube linear, hyaline to yellow, sparsely glandular hairy; stamens ca. 4 mm, anthers ca. 3 mm, thecae linear, adnate to style; style ca. 2 mm long, glabrous; ovary 0.7–1.0 mm long, densely pubescent at apex; pappus of 2–5 barbed bristles. Achenes stramineous, oblong-elliptic, ca. 1 × 0.5 mm, glabrous to sparsely sericeous, apex pubescent with 2–5 barbed pappus of bristles.

Phenology:—Flowering October to January (rarely up to February).

Habitat and distribution:—Common on elevated hilltops, roadsides, amidst the grasses, often abundant on the slopes between 500 to 1200 m a.s.l.; it prefers open to partially shady situations. It has been recorded as widespread in Peninsular India ( Fig. 5 ), Bhutan, Nepal (fide Hajra et al. 1995) and China (Yunnan, fide Chen & Anderberg 2011). However, its occurrence in Bhutan is doubtful ( Grierson & Long 2001). The record of Vicoa cernua from Sind Province of Pakistan (Bughar on the bank of lower Indus delta, Blatter, Sabanis & McCann) by Stewart (1972) was based on Blatter et al. (1927) and also requires verification as we were unable to locate a collection of V. cernua made by Blatter et al. (primarily at BLAT) from Sind.

IUCN status:—The species is distributed widely in Peninsular India and China (Yunnan), no threat has been observed in our area and, due to the high number of achenes and their good dispersal, abundant individuals were observed in some of the subpopulations. Hence, the species is assessed here as Least Concern ( LC) following the IUCN guidelines (2019).

Note:—Dalzell in Dalzell & Gibson (1861: 126, 314) described a species which he considered essentially similar to Vicoa indica . He did not mention any difference in the ray flower size, thus possibly implying that this character is identical in both species and therefore V. cernua also has conspicuously long ray flowers. Among the diagnostic characters that are currently recognised, Dalzell mentioned a pappus of 2(4–5) bristles, which corresponds to the species with long ray flowers.

The authors have made consultation for all the possible collections of Vicoa cernua placed at BLAT, BSI, CAL, DD and K. In our search at K and CAL we could recognise very few specimens from the Dalzell’s collection associated with the protologue. The collections housed at K mostly have the ‘Herb. Hookerianum, 1867’ circular stamp and the engraved labels ‘Herb. Hook. fil. & Thomson’ were added from ca. 1855 onwards when Joseph Hooker & Thomson were preparing the Flora Indica. The original collector labels and annotations are also associated with these collections; nevertheless, some labels seem to be incorrectly added. The specimen K 000974582, which was designated as the lectotype of V. cernua by Singh & Shinde (2017), consists of two plants mounted on the sheet, the left one has an engraved label in Joseph Hooker’s handwriting reading ‘ Vicoa indica, Concan , Law’, and the right one has a Dalzell’s own label reading ‘ Vicoa cernua Dalzell mss’. Both collections appear to be a single gathering. Whether they were collected by Law or Dalzell is uncertain; as Dalzell had more taxonomic interests, Law used to collect and share his plant collection with him more often. The specimens have inconspicuous ligulate flowers with many pappus bristles and therefore do not agree with the protologue of V. cernua as discussed above. Hence the previous lectotype selection by Singh & Shinde (2017) has been superseded.

The other collection at K ( K 001325280) was determined by the present authors as ‘ type? of Vicoa cernua ’. Although the specimen fits the taxonomic circumscription of V. cernua , we were uncertain to call it a type as it doesn’t bear Dalzell’s annotations or label. All the three specimens appear to be a single gathering labelled by Law as ‘ Vicoa n. s?, hills in the Concan’; this is seemingly not part of the original material. The specimen was erroneously cited by Gosavi et al. (2020b) as the type of V. cernua , which is much contradictory with their circumscription of V. cernua as it bears conspicuously linear ligulate flowers with one to two pappus hairs. Nevertheless, it unequivocally agrees with their concept of V. gokhalei which is to be correctly called V. cernua .

We find it difficult to sort the specimens housed at K, CAL, particularly labelled as ‘new sp.’, ‘ V. cernua ’ and ‘ V. indica ’ by Dalzell, Stocks, Ritchie, Law and Hooker. Some are without ray florets, whereas some are with unopened capitula. Through a search at K, we could locate Dalzell’s own collection from Concan, Mirya Dongar (as Vicoa new sp?) with linear ray flowers with very few pappus bristles. This specimen unequivocally agrees with the protologue and is designated here as lectotype; it is now digitized and available online with barcode K 000974584 (extreme rightside specimen). The sheet also shares two more specimens with barcode K 000974583, of which one has Ritchie’s label as ‘ Vicoa cernua Dalzell , Belgaum’ and a lithographic label by Hooker which says ‘ Vicoa indica, Concan , Law’. All these collections were brought to K possibly by J. E. Stocks in later 1853, as Dalzell and Ritchie’s labels on the sheet have a small ink annotation as ‘Dr. J. E. Stocks’ (Kew Directors Correspondence 55/82: Letter from N. A. [Nicholas Alexander] Dalzell to [Sir William Jackson Hooker] from Bombay [ Mumbai, India] on 26 June 1855. https://plants. jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.visual.kdcas496).

Another specimen at CAL (barcode CAL 000031651) from Dalzell’s collection is seemingly part or a duplicate of K 000974584. Nevertheless, the specimen is incomplete to determine it as V. cernua and hence excluded from consideration.

Moreover, the characters indicated in the literature often differed from the specimens. This must be one reason why V. cernua was interpreted so poorly in the previous years. Incidentally, Dalzell himself had collected both species and left them as ‘new sp.’ for years (November 1846 to 1861), and possibly due to this gap, he published the protologue of V. cernua in two parts (page no. 126 and an addendum on page 314) of ‘ Bombay Flora’. In the addendum, Dalzell wrote “ray florets linear; pappus of 4 to 5 slender bristles, almost as long as the flowers” (seemingly describing pappus of the disc florets), which is very diagnostic to recognize V. cernua in the field.

Additional specimens examined:— INDIA. Chhattisgarh. Bailadila, 17 Feb. 1963, Panigrahi 1078 ( CAL) . Odisha, Kalahandi, Dec. 1939, H. F . Mooney 1229 ( DD) . Gujarat. Dangs, Satpura, 26 Nov. 1966, B . Suryanarayana s.n.? ( DD, no. 142965) . Karnataka. Belgaum, s.d., Ritchie 403 ( K, barcode K000974583 ); North Kanara, Anshi Ghat, 25 Jan. 1886, Talbot 1359 ( BSI, CAL, DD); North Kanara , Nilkund Ghat, 02 Dec. 1883, Talbot s.n. ( BSI, no. 5581); Munzerabad, Mysore, Nov. 1908, Meebold 9394 ( CAL); Chamarajanagar, Biligiriranga Hills, Dec., E . Barnes ( DD, no. 103284) . Maharashtra. Hills of Concan, Law s. n. ( K, barcode K001325280 ); Bombay, s.d., Lambert s. n. ( K, barcode K000974581 ); Pune , s.d. Woodrow s.n. ( DD); Satara , Mahabaleshwar , Jan. 1881, T . Cooke s.n. ( BSI); ibid, T . Cooke 115 ( CAL); ibid, 26 Feb. 1956, S . D. Mahajan 47 ( BSI); ibid, 22 Nov. 2020, M . D Nandikar 002812 ( NGCPR); Satara, Vasota , 28 Jan. 2014, P . Pathare 196826 ( BSI). Ahmednagar , Harishchandragad, Kedarnath Plateau, 16 Nov. 1968, K. V . Billore 115494 ( CAL); Pune, Purandar , 27 Dec. 1944, H . Santapau 5667 ( BLAT); ibid. 23 Dec. 1944, H . Santapau 5608 ( BLAT); ibid. 26 Dec. 1945, H . Santapau 8286 ( BLAT); ibid. s.d., R. A . Eklund 101 ( BLAT); Pune, Ambawane , 24 Nov. 1964, B . Venkata Reddi 99434 ( BSI); Pune , Haveli, Arvi, 19 Nov. 1963, M. Y . Ansari 101866 ( BSI); Pune , Purandar, 18 Feb. 1963, R. S . Rao 86537 ( BSI); Pune, Khandala , 28 Dec. 1956, G . Panigrahi 9125; Sindhudurg, Amboli, 29 Dec. 1977, S. M . Almeida 1259 ( BLAT) ; Kerala. Cannanore, Bramhagiri, 07 Dec. 1907, C. E. C . Fischer 248 ( CAL); ibid, 15 Nov. 1978, V. S . Ramachandran 58745 ( CAL). Specimen imperfectum: Concan, hilly parts of south Concan , Nov. 1846, Dalzell s.n. ( CAL, barcode CAL000031651 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Vicoa sahyadrica Nandikar & Sardesai.A. habit; B. flowering shoot; C. vertical section of capitulum; D. involucre in young, spheroid capitulum; E. involucre in well grown, tubular capitulum; F. ray floret; G. disc floret; H. achene (C–H from Nandikar & Sardesai 002811).

FIGURE 3. A & C. Vicoa cernua Dalzell (A. flat capitulum; C. conspicuously linear, ligulate rays); B & D. Vicoa sahyadrica Nandikar & Sardesai (B. cupuliform to tubular capitulum; D. reduced, usually inconspicuous rays; photograph of an extreme form with 1.5–2 mm ligulate rays: Sardesai 02816).

FIGURE 4. Lectotype of Vicoa cernua (barcode K000974583). © Copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

FIGURE 5. Distribution map of Vicoa sahyadrica (grey squares) and V. cernua (black triangles) in India.