Decalepidanthus parviflorus (Decne.) Dickoré & Hilger 2015

Dickoré, W. Bernhard & Hilger, Hartmut H., 2015, Decalepidanthus (Boraginaceae) includes and antedates Pseudomertensia; a synopsis of the genus, Phytotaxa 226 (2), pp. 131-143 : 137-138

4. Decalepidanthus parviflorus (Decne.) Dickoré & Hilger , comb. nov.

Basionym:— Craniospermum parviflorum Decne. in Jacquemont (1844: 126, t. 130). ≡ Moltkia parviflora (Decne.) Clarke (1883: 171) . ≡ Pseudomertensia parviflora (Decne.) Riedl in Rechinger (1967: 60). ≡ Mertensia exserta Johnston (1956: 305) , nom. nov. [non Mertensia parviflora Don (1837: 320) ]. Type:— INDIA. Jammu & Kashmir: ‘In pascuis excelsis trans jugum Pir Pundjâl’, 2680 m, 3 May 1831, V.Jacquemont 266 (holo P photo!; iso K!).

= Decalepidanthus sericophyllus Riedl (1963a: 608) . ≡ Pseudomertensia sericophylla (Riedl) Nasir (1989b: 118) . Type:— PAKISTAN. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Nathia Gali N of Rawalpindi [34°05’N 73°26’E], 1800 m, 1907, H.Deane s.n. (holo K!).

Icon.: — Ovczinnikov & Czukavina (1974): fig. 5 ( Moltkia parviflora ). Nasir (1989a): fig. 1 ( Decalepidanthus sericophyllus ). Nasir (1989b): fig. 29 F–H ( Pseudomertensia sericophylla ); fig. 32 A–C ( P. parviflora ).— Fig. 1c (nutlet).

Distribution: —E Afghanistan (Nangarhar), N Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Kurram, Dir, Swat, Hazara; Rawalpindi: Murree Hills), NW India (Jammu & Kashmir): Safed Koh Range (south: Kurram valley), outer far west and Kashmir Himalaya, east to Pir Panjal range / SE edge of Kashmir basin.—Map: fig. 2b.

Habitat: —Elevation (1520–)1950–3500(–3650) m, submontane–montane, rare or scattered, but locally abundant among rocks, in scrub ( Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana ) and forest ( Abies webbiana , Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don , Picea smithiana , Pinus wallichiana , Quercus floribunda Lindl. ex A.Camus ).

Notes: —‘ Decalepidanthus sericophyllus ’ corresponds to a summer form of D. parviflorus . After flowering, the renewal shoots branches below the inflorescence elongate and finally much overtop the fruiting parts. The habitual transformation from a few-leaved, low spring herb to a densely leafy and almost shrubby looking plant up to ca. 50 cm tall, during and after the monsoon, seems quite remarkable in this species, and both stages look completely discordant. The rarely observed nutlets of D. parviflorus are ± ovate in outline, initially thinly pubescent, but soon becoming glabrescent, at least abaxially. They have been described as glabrous in D. sericophyllus on basis of immature material, but, on account of the incomplete record, we would not place much weight on this character.

The apparently closely related species Decalepidanthus parviflorus and D. trollii are almost completely sympatric, both spatially and altitudinally. They may be ecologically separated, with the former probably extending into the relatively drier and more open situations or habitats. In Afghanistan, D. parviflorus seems to have been found only once, and close to the border of Pakistan: Eastern Safed Koh, N-side above Acin, SE Jalalabad, 2000 m, 16 October 1969, H.Freitag 7417 (MSB!). It was, however, repeatedly collected in the Kurram valley, on the southern slopes of the same range in Pakistan. An unlocalized specimen: “Affghanistan”, W.Griffith 5983 (K!) may likewise have come from today’s Pakistani territory.

Figures

FIGURE 1. a–d Nutlets of Decalepidanthus species, adaxial face (left), abaxial face (right): a, D. echioides, Pakistan, Hunza, G. & S. Miehe 2811 (MSB); b, D. elongatus, Pakistan, Kaghan Valley, W.B.Dickoré 13249 (MSB); c, D. parviflorus, Pakistan, Kaghan Valley, U. Schickhoff 106A (MSB); d, D. primuloides, Pakistan, Hunza, G. & S. Miehe 3703 (MSB); e–g Habit of Decalepidanthus species: e, D. echioides, Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit District, Jutial Nala, 2620 m, 31 August 1995, W.B.Dickoré 12227; f, D. elongatus, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mansehra District, Mt. Makra W, 3840 m, 14 September 1995, W.B.Dickoré 13180; g, D. echioides, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mansehra District, Mt. Makra top, 3880 m, 14 September 1995, W.B.Dickoré 13259.