Millettia pseudoracemosa, Thothathri & Ravikumar, 1997

Song, Zhu-Qiu, 2023, The identities of Millettia pseudoracemosa and M. pulchra var. munnarensis (Fabaceae: Millettieae) from South India, Phytotaxa 591 (1), pp. 55-63 : 56

Identities of Millettia pseudoracemosa and

Millettia pseudoracemosa Thothathri & Ravikumar (1997: 239) was described on the basis of a single collection (S. Ravikumar 334, Fig. 1 : A–B), which was collected on 21 April 1995 from Anamalai Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India. The new species was considered to be similar to M. racemosa ( Roxburgh 1832: 329) Bentham (1852: 249) in habit, shape, number and hairiness of leaflets, floral color, and pod shape. The latter species was first described based on specimens also from India, but it has been treated as a monospecific genus Endosamara Geesink (1984: 93) belonging to the tribe Wisterieae because of its true panicles with ebracteole flowers and very peculiar fruits with a lomented endocarp around each seed ( Compton et al. 2019). Thothathri & Ravikumar (1997) also pointed out that their new species has a unique character in the genus, i.e. the large sized (2.5–3.0 cm long) and violet flowers.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Millettia dura Dunn.A. lectotype of M. pseudoracemosa Thoth. & S.Ravik. (S. Ravikumar 334, MH00000228, https://archive. bsi.gov.in/phanerogams-Image/en?link=MH00000228&column=szBarcode);B. isolectotype of M.pseudoracemosa Thoth.& S.Ravik.(S. Ravikumar 334, MH00000229, https://archive.bsi.gov.in/phanerogams-Image/en?link=MH00000229&column=szBarcode); C. isotype of M. pulchra var. munnarensis Balan & Predeep (S.V. Predeep 20986, K001415703); D. field photos of M. pulchra var. munnarensis Balan & Predeep (S.V. Predeep 20986, K001415710).A & B ©the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata. C & D ©copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.