Dipcadi janae-shrirangii Chandore, Borude, Bhalekar, Madhav & Gosavi, 2021

Chandore, Arun Nivrutti, Borude, Devidas Bhausaheb, Bhalekar, Paresh Pandharinath, Madhav, Nilesh Appaso & Gosavi, Kumar Vinod Chhotupuri, 2021, Dipcadi janae-shrirangii (Asparagaceae), a new species from the lateritic plateaus of Konkan region of Maharashtra, India, Phytotaxa 524 (1), pp. 37-44 : 38-43

Dipcadi janae-shrirangii Chandore, Borude, Bhalekar, Madhav & Gosavi , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 and 3 ).

Type: — INDIA, Maharashtra, Ratnagiri district, Guhagar tehsil, near to Naravan village , 17°20’373’’N, 73°13’493’’E, 13 m, 15 July 2021, A. N . Chandore 2095 (holotype CAL!, isotypes BSI!, K!, SUK!) .

Diagnosis: — Dipcadi janae-shrirangii is closely related to D. concanense , sharing with this latter species the following features: flowers shiny white, perianth tube cylindrical and brownish black seeds; but it differs in its small size flowers, 2.2–2.5 cm long (vs. 4.0–5.0 cm long), perianth tube as long as the lobes (vs. twice longer than the lobes), outer perianth 7-nerved (vs. 9-nerved), stipe of pistil 1.2–1.4 mm long (vs. 3.5–4.0 mm long), anther apiculate (vs. acute), style 12–15 mm long (vs. 28–30 mm long), capsule 5–7 mm long (vs. 10–12 mm long), ovules 4–6 per locule (vs. 10–12 per locule). Detailed differences between D. janae-shrirangii and D. concanense are listed in Table 1.

A bulbous scapose herb, 30–45 cm high. Bulb tunicate, small, spherical, 1.0– 1.5 cm in diameter, rooting from the base; roots 25–35, 3– 5 cm long, fibrous. Leaves in a rosette, subfleshy, 3–5 per bulb, semiterete, linear, 15–28 × 0.2–0.3 cm, deeply channelled, green, slightly broader and white at base, entire along margins, narrowed at apex. Scape terete, 28–45 cm long, smooth naked; raceme 4.5–8.0 cm long, 2–6-flowered; floral bracts broadly triangular, scarious, 5–6 × 3–4 mm, acuminate at apex, shorter than pedicel (in fruiting); pedicel terete, 0.5–1.4 × 0.18–0.2 cm, glabrous. Flowers shiny white, 2.2–2.5 cm long, 1.5–1.8 cm in diam. Perianth tube 1.1–1.3 × 0.3–0.4 cm; outer whorl 3-lobed; lobes elliptic, 12–13 × 3.5–4.5 mm, 7-nerved, obtuse at apex; inner whorl 3-lobed; lobes 12–13 × 3.5–4.5 mm, 9-nerved, narrow in the middle, obtuse and papillose at apex. Stamens 6, 7– 10 mm long; filaments 4–6 mm long, flattened, broad towards base and narrow at the apex, originating at the mouth of the perianth tube, adnate to inner lobes throughout their length; anthers 3.0–3.5 × 0.8–1.0 mm, greenish-yellow. Pistil 1.7 –1.9 cm long; stipe 1.2–1.4 mm long; ovary 3.0–3.5 × 2.0–3.0 mm, obovoid, ovules 4–6 per locule; style 12–15 × 0.8–1.0 mm, papillose; stigma 3-lobed (but appearing simple), lobes 2–3 mm long, papillate. Capsule distinctly 3-lobed, obovoid, broader than long, 5–7 × 9–11 mm; seeds 4–6 per locule, elliptic, discoid 4.8–5.6 × 3.5–4.5 mm, brownish-black in colour.

Distribution: —Presently the new species is only known from its type locality, Naravan village area of Guhagar tehsil, Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. The species is constituted by two nuclei restricted to an area less than 1 km 2; the average size of each nucleus is about 50 m 2.

Habitat: — Dipcadi janae-shrirangii grows on open areas of low elevated lateritic plateaus near to Naravan village of Guhagar tehsil at an elevation of about 13 m in association with Eleocharis konkanensis Chandore et al. (2016: 154) , Fimbristylis sp. , Flemingia tuberosa Dalzell (1850: 34) , Geissaspis cristata Wight & Arn. (1834: 218) , Ischaemum sp. Rotala sp. and Schoenoplectiella sp.

Phenology: —Flowering and fruiting from June to August.

Etymology: —The specific epithet “ janae-shrirangii ” is in honour of two contemporary friends plant taxonomists, Prof. (Dr.) Malapati Kuppuswamy Janarthanam and Prof. (Dr.) Shrirang Ramchandra Yadav from Department of Botany, Goa University, Goa and Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur respectively for their extensive work in the field of plant diversity and plant conservation of Western Ghats.

Conservation Status:— The occurrence of Dipcadi janae-shrirangii is estimated to be the population of about 300 individuals located in less than 1 km 2 area on low elevated lateritic plateaus of Naravan area of Guhagar tehsil of Ratnagiri district . Grazing and mining could be the major threats for this species. The new species is apparently endemic, because it is known only from the type locality i.e., Naravan village area in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra state, India. It is assessed here as Data Deficient (DD) pending further study.

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes):— INDIA, Maharashtra, Ratnagiri District, Guhagar, near to Naravan village , 16 July 2021, A. N. Chandore 2100 ( SUK!); D. B. Borude 557 ( SUK!); P. P. Bhalekar 75 ( SUK!); K. V. C. Gosavi 5185 ( SUK!) .

Note:— Among the Indian species of the genus, Dipcadi concanense , D. goaense and D. janae-shrirangii are showing distinct lineage by sharing morphological characters, shiny white flowers and brownish black seeds, whereas other Indian species have green to brown perianth and pitch black seeds. Above said three species are narrowly distributed and endemic to the Konkan region.

Dipcadi concanense is one of long flowered species with critically endangered status ( Mishra & Singh 2001). It is distributed to south Konkan region of Maharashtra state and Mopa plateau of Goa state ( Lakshminarasimhan 1996, Deshpande et al. 2016); while D. goaense and D. janae-shrirangii are restricted to the type localities in Goa and Maharashtra states respectively ( Prabhugaonkar et al. 2009, present communication). These three species also share common chromosome number, i.e. 2n=12 ( Dixit et al. 1992, Gosavi et al. 2011 and present communication). Thus, cytologically these three species are also showed one lineage and related species. ( Fig. 3 K, L & Fig. 4 H ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dipcadi janae-shrirangii Chandore, Borude, Bhalekar, Madhav & Gosavi sp. nov. (Chandore 2095) A. Habit; B. Bract; C. Flower; D. Outer perianth; E. Inner perianth with stamens; F. Pistil; G. Fruit; H. Seed. Illustration drawn by N.A. Madhav.

FIGURE 2. Comparison between selected characters of D. janae-shrirangii and D. concanense. Flowers, L.S. & top view of flowers (A), (C) & (F) in D. janae-shrirangii and (B), (D) & (E) in D. concanense. Outer perianth lobe (G) in D. janae-shrirangii and (H) in D. concanense. Inner perianth lobe (I) in D. janae-shrirangii and (J) in D. concanense. Anther (K) in D. janae-shrirangii and (L) in D. concanense. Bract (M) in D. janae-shrirangii and (N) in D. concanense. Style (O) in D. janae-shrirangii and (P) in D. concanense. Ovary (Q) in D. janae-shrirangii and (R) in D. concanense. Capsule (S) in D. janae-shrirangii and (T) in D. concanense. Seeds (U) in D. janaeshrirangii and (V) in D. concanense. Photos by A.N. Chandore.

FIGURE 3. Comparison between selected characters of D. janae-shrirangii and D. concanense. Habitat, flowers & habit (A), (B) & (E) in D. janae-shrirangii and (C), (D) & (F) in D. concanense. Capsule (G) & (I) in D. janae-shrirangii and (H) & (J) in D. concanense. Chromosome number (K) in D. janae-shrirangii and (L) in D. concanense. Photos by A.N. Chandore & K.V.C. Gosavi.

FIGURE 4. Flowers of Dipcadi goaense (A–C), Comparison between flowers & L.S. of flowers in D. concanense (D) & (F) and in D. goaense (E) & (G). Chromosome number (H) in D. goaense. Photos by S.R. Yadav & K.V.C. Gosavi.