Monday, August 10, 2015

Spiranthes sinensis (Persoon) Ames.





          
Spiranthes sinensis (Persoon) Ames.

Syn.nm: Neottia sinensis Persoon, Syn. Pl. 2: 511. 1807; Gyrostachys australis (R. Brown) Blume; G. stylites (Lindley) Kuntze; Monustes australis (R. Brown) Rafinesque; N. amoena M. Bieberstein; N. australis R. Brown; N. australis var. chinensis Ker Gawler; Spiranthes amoena (M. Bieberstein) Sprengel; S. australis (R. Brown) Lindley; S. australis var. suishaensis Hayata; S. sinensis var.amoena (M. Bieberstein) H. Hara; S. sinensis var. australis (R. Brown) H. Hara & S. Kitamura; S. stylites Lindley; S. suishaensis (Hayata) Schlechter.


Description: Plants 13-30 cm tall. Roots 2-3 mm in diam. Leaves 2-5, erect and spreading, broadly linear to broadly linear-lanceolate, rarely narrowly oblong, 3-10 × 0.5-1 cm, apex acute or acuminate, with an indistinct petiole-like base. Inflorescence erect, 10-25 cm, glabrous; rachis 4-10 cm, with many spirally arranged flowers; floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, glabrous, apex long acuminate. Flowers purplish red or pink; ovary pale green, 4-5 mm including pedicel, glabrous. Dorsal sepal forming a hood with petals, narrowly oblong, cymbiform, ca. 4 × 1.5 mm, glabrous, apex subacute; lateral sepals lanceolate, slightly oblique, ca. 5 × 2 mm, glabrous, base slightly gibbous, apex subacute. Petals rhombic-oblong, oblique, ca. as long as dorsal sepal, thinly textured, apex obtuse; lip broadly oblong, 4-5.5 × ca. 2.5 mm, shortly clawed, concave base containing 2 clavate glands, lateral margins erect, apical margin with strongly wrinkled teeth, apex obtuse and recurved; disk papillate. Column erect, ca. 2 mm; anther ovoid; pollinia ca. 1 mm; rostellum narrowly triangular-lanceolate; stigma discoid, weakly 3-lobed, slightly raised.


Distribution: Open and moist areas in forests, thickets, wet grasslands, meadows, marshes; 200-3400 m. Almost throughout China [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Kashmir, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Russia (Siberia), Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].



Dendrobium kallarense J.Mathew, George, Yohannan& Madhusudhanan






Dendrobium kallarense J.Mathew, George, Yohannan& Madhusudhanan

Description: Lithophyte on wet rocks. Pseudobulb ovoid, swollen, compressed, brown, 2-4 cm. Leaves 2-3, size to 7 x 0.5 cm, linear, acute, membranous, leafless when flowering. Flowers 1-3, usually 1/ one at a time, bluish pink, in 4-5 cm long slender terminal racemes; pedicels 7 mm long. dorsal sepal 14 x 5 mm, lanceolate, obtuse, 5-veined; lateral ISSN 2320-5407 International Journal of Advanced Research (2014), Volume 2, Issue 2, 799-803 800 sepals 14 x 9 mm, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 5-veined; petals 15 x 10 mm, obovate, obtuse, 7-veined; lip 15 x 12 mm, 3-lobed, side lobes ovate, obtuse, 6 x 4 mm, midlobe 9 x 8.5 mm, obovate, truncate at apex, disc with an oblong callus and yellow hairs. Capsule fusiform. 

Conservation status: — The new taxa is seen in undisturbed wet rock strewn pockets of montane grass lands in Kallar valley and Pulikkayam of Achankovil belongs to Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve. A total of 300 individuals were scattered on this environs.






Memecylon heyneanum Benth.







Memecylon heyneanum Benth. is an unresolved name



Description: Small trees ca. 5 m tall. Branchlets tereteglabrous, Leaves simpleoppositedecussatepetiole 0.7-1 cm long, stout, planoconvex in cross section, glabrouslamina 13-16 x 4-5 cm, lanceolate, tapering into acuminate apex with blunt tip, baseacute, margin entirecoriaceousglabrousmidrib slightly raised above; secondary_nerves ca. 20 pairs, distantly parallel and joining with intramarginal_nerve. (looks like a myrtaceae member)tertiary_nerves obscure. Flowers nearly sessile, in axillary and lateral fascicles, purple; disk rays prominent. Berry, seed 1.

Distribution : Endemic to the Western_Ghats- occasional in South Sahyadri and southern part of Central Sahyadris (up to Coorg Region). Grown on the rare undergrowth mostly in low elevation evergreen forests up to 900 m.













Thursday, August 6, 2015

Arisaema sarracenioides


Arisaema sarracenioides Barnes & C.E.C. Fisch


Description: Dioecious, perennial herbs, to 60 cm tall. Corms subterranean, depressed globose or subglobose, 2–2.5 × 3–4 cm, green-brownish, wrinkled, cream inside. Roots many, on top of the corm surrounding the pseudostem. whitish, 2–7 cm long. Pseudostem 30–45 cm long, cylindrical, green with purple spots, ligule not prominent. Cataphylls 3, last one usually degraded. Leaf single, radiatisect; petiole 20–35 cm long, 0.5–2 cm thick, pale green; leaflets 7–9, leaflets petiolulate, gradually cuneate at base, lamina obovate-spathulate, 15–30 × 2.5–5cm, acuminate at apex, margins wavy, purple coloured lenticelled; leaflets bright green above, pale beneath, lateral veins up to 22 pairs, intra-marginal vein c.0.5 cm apart from the margins. Inflorescence dioecious, probably emerging after the leaf; peduncle to 18  cm long, 0.5–0.7 cm thick, mottled as in petiole, pale purple towards the distal end, exserted by 6–15 cm from the pseudostem. Spathe 12–18 cm long excluding the limb portion; tube of spathe cylindric, funnel-shaped towards the mouth, a small bend in the mid of spathe, 8–9 cm long,  pale to purple basally, greenish distally, dark purplish within, with white longitudinal stripes along the veins; mouth  enclosed by a lid like limb followed by 10-14 cm long tail; resemble a pitcher leaf, limb green to purple. Male spadix sessile, 8–9 cm long, slender, terete, base slightly thickened, c.0.3–0.5 cm wide, gradually tapering and form a appendage above, white coloured with purple molting. Neuters absent. Male flowers sessile or shortly stipitate towards the distal end of the fertile zone, each consisting of 2–8purple anthers; stipe to 1 mm long; anthers reniform, 0.6–0.8 × 0.5–0.7 mm, dehiscing through an apical slit. female spadix with basal portion cylindrical, ca. 2.2 3 0.8 cm, densely flowered; ovaries green, 1-loculed, ovoid; stigmas subsessile, discoid. Fruiting spadix cylindrical.

Etymology: The specific epithet “sarracenioides” refers to the plant being similar to the appearance of Sarracenia, a genus of North American pitcher plants.



Habitat and Distribution: Arisaema sarracenioides is a strict endemic plant to the southern Western Ghats.Grown in rain forests of  Idukki, Kollam.