Vincetoxicum stocksii Ali & Khatoon (1982: 65)

Shah, Sayed A., Sultan, Amir, Wen, Jun, Nisa, Surat U., Su, Xu, Iqbal, Javed & Mumtaz, Abdul S., 2018, Vincetoxicum luridum (Asclepiadeae, Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae), a new and long misunderstood endemic species from Balochistan, Pakistan, Phytotaxa 357 (2), pp. 117-125 : 124-125

Vincetoxicum stocksii Ali & Khatoon (1982: 65)

Type:— PAKISTAN. Balochistan: D-5 Near Bharat Khel on way to Zhob, erect shrub, l m. tall, 15 May 1978, S. Nazimuddin & S. Abedin 680 (Holotype: KUH!). Illustrated by Ali & Khatoon (1982: 66).

Herb to undershrub, up to 60 (–100) cm tall, stem longitudinally striate, pubescent along two longitudinal strips, sometimes moderately pubescent all around the stem, internodes 1–7 cm long. Leaves decussate, lower and upper leaves smaller than the middle ones, petiolate; petiole 2–8 mm long, adaxially channeled, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, sometimes trichomes present only in the petiole channel; lamina mostly narrowly ovate to narrowly or broadly lanceolate, rarely elliptic ovate, sparsely pubescent on both sides, 3–6 × 1–2 cm, margins smooth, mostly pubescent, apex acute, base mostly obtuse to sometime sub-acute, veins visible on both surfaces, sometimes sunken, pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, mostly sessile, often both sessile and pedunculate inflorescence present on the same plant, peduncle up to 3 cm. Flowers pedicellate, pedicel 2–4 mm long, sparsely to densely pubescent, a few narrow pubescent up to 1 mm long bracts present at the bases. Sepals ovate or tapering to the acute to narrowly acute apex, ca. 1 mm long, a few marginal and surface hairs present. Colleters 5 per flower, present each at the separation point of two lobes, narrowly ovate, ca. 0.5 mm long. Corolla purple, tube ca. 1 mm long, lobes oblong-ovate with obtuse or occasionally emarginate apex, ca. 2 × 1 mm, pubescent within; corona linear, 1 mm long, less than 0.5 mm broad, much longer than gynostegium, apices approach to those of the opposite corona lobes, fully convergent over the gynostegium, staminal appendages obtuse. Pedicel in fruit up to 6 mm long; follicles ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 5– 9.5 × 1–1.5 cm, glabrous, inconspicuously striate, apex acuminate, seeds with less than 1 mm broad margin throughout except apex, 6–9 × 4–6.5 mm, dorsally red spotted, coma white, ca. 1.5 cm long.

Specimens examined:— PAKISTAN. Balochistan: ca. 30 km from Zhob on way to Quetta , 07 July 1988, T. Ali & T. Ahmad 23361 ( KUH!) ; Janabad: ca. 33 km from Zhob on way to Qila Saifullah , 1 June 1995, T. Ali & G. R. Sarwar 2754 ( KUH!) ; ca. 20 km from Qilla Saifullah on way to Zhob ( Fort Sandeman ), 19 May 1984, S. Omer & A. Ghafoor 1640 ( KUH!) ; Murgha (Balochistan), 25 October 1950, A. H. Khan s.n. ( RAW!) ; Lakkaband , 21 May 1896, J. F. Duthie ( RAW!) ; Hindubagh 7000 ft., 24 October 1969, Shariq 8318 & 8322 ( PFI!) ; Quetta, in valle 12 km. N. Murgha Kibsai , 1600 m, 30°48’N, 69°25’E, substr. Tonschiefer, K. H. Rechinger 29803 ( K!) ; Quetta: Murgha Kibsai to Fort Sandeman , ca. 30 km from Fort Sandeman , stony and sandy plain, ca. 1500 m, 19 May 1965, J. Lamond 1440 ( MO!) .

Specimen examined for Vincetoxicum arnottianum :— PAKISTAN. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & Kashmir: Shinkiari , c. 3500 ft., dark purple flowers, E. Nasir, Siddiqi & Zafar 4422 ( RAW!) ; Poonch, Mandi, Kotli , A. Rashid 27007 ( RAW!) ; Swat, Thana , shrub on hill slopes, flowers dark purple, M. A. Siddiqi & Y. Nasir 6857 ( RAW!) ; Malakand Agency, near Butkhela, among granite rocks and field borders, E. Nasir & M. A. Siddiqi 4401 ( KUH!) ; Swat, Miadam , c. 6000 ft., dark purple flowers, Y. Nasir 6826 ( KUH!) ; Swat, Thana , shrub, on hill-slopes, flowers dark-purple, M. A. Siddiqi & Y. Nasir 6857 ( KUH!) ; Kaghan, Bhounja, 3 July 1899, Duthie s.n. ( K!) ; Dungagali , below main road, June 1907, H. Deane s.n. ( K!) ; Pahlgam , c. 8000 ft., R. R. Stewart 5357 ( K!) ; Kashmir, Kullogam, Falconer 2743 ( K!) ; Kashmir, Shapiyon , 7000 ft., C. B. Clarke 28584 ( K!) ; near Shapiyon , 6000 ft., J. R. Drummond 13948 ( K!) .

Specimen examined for Vincetoxicum sakesarense :— PAKISTAN. Punjab: Sarghodha district, Sakesar hills, in protected area, 15 August 1972, M. Qaiser & A. Ghafoor 4524 ( KUH!) ; Sakesar , 29 September 1951, A. Rahman 287 ( KUH!) ; Sakesar 27 April 1977, M. Ajab and M. Ashraf 50159 ( ISL!) ; Sakesar , 05 May 1978, M. Ajab and Maqsood 83837 ( ISL!) ; Sakesar, 27 April 1977, M. Ajab and M. Ashraf 50158 ( ISL!) ; Ouchali , 28 April 1977, M. Ajab and Ashraf 48440 ( ISL!) ; Sakesar, 01 August , 1954, Iftikhar Ahmad 27821 ( RAW!) .

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the editor (Michele Rodda) and reviewers (Sigrid Liede-Schumann and anonymous) for their time and efforts necessary to highly improve the manuscript, and helpful suggestions, comments and words of encouragement. The authors extend sincere thanks to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for funding the project for six months foreign visit, the herbaria mentioned in the text for permission of examining their specimens, and the Laboratories of Analytical Biology of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA for hosting the SEM studies. We are also indebted to Dr. Abdul Hanan (Director General, Balochistan Agricultural Research and Development Centre, Quetta), Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Baz Gul, Imran Ahmad, Raees Khan, Zain ul Abedin and Nazar Khan for assistance in field work, and Dr. Yousheng Chen (Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China) for helpful comments on the manuscript, Tadashi Yamashiro (The University of Tokushima) for commenting on the earlier taxonomic results, and Scott Whittaker for kind help with SEM.