Curculigo janarthanamii R.D.Gore & S.P.Gaikwad, 2018

Curculigo janarthanamii R.D.Gore & S.P.Gaikwad View in CoL , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 )

Curculigo janarthanamii resembles Curculigo multiflora but differs in having style half the length of the stigma which is grooved in 3- rows along the style, dehiscent capsulate fruits which break up into three loculicidal valves or irregularly dehisces and seeds with spongy white elaisome.

Type: — INDIA. Maharashtra, Osmanabad district: Apsinga , elevation 561 m, 18°04’55.6”N 76°01’36.8”E, 5 September 2017, R.D. Gore & S.P. Gaikwad 13093 (holotype CAL! GoogleMaps ; isotype BSI! GoogleMaps , BAMU! GoogleMaps , WCAS! GoogleMaps ).

Perennial, polygamous, acaulescent, erect, 35–75 cm tall, geophytic herbs; rootstock black, thick vertical rhizome, 10–45 × 1–3 cm, rarely branched, crowned with persistent black-fibrous remnant of former leaves and bearing many contractile, roots fleshy, scattered on vertical rhizome. Leaves radical, pseudopetiolate; lamina linear-lanceolate, 15–45 × 1.0– 2.5 cm, plicate, prominently nerved, margins entire, sparsely hairy with simple and 2–5 branched unequal stellate hairs; pseudopetioles distinct, canaliculate, 7.0–30 × 0.3–0.6 cm, sheathing, white, edges membranous. Flowers 6–8, yellow, distichous, subsessile with lower bisexual and upper ones male, arising from leaf axils in elongated, polygamous, 9–11 cm long racemes or sometimes reduced; peduncles 1–3 cm long, whitish, fleshy. Bracts both in male and female flowers green, persistent, broadly lanceolate, 2.5–7.0 × 0.7–1.5 cm, keeled, unequal sided, covered with 1–3.5 mm long unicellular unbranched silky hairs, scarious when dry. Perigone fused into elongated narrow tube; perigone tube, slender, terete or minutely angled, 2.5–7.5 cm long, covered with 1–3 mm long, intermixed stellate and simple white silky hairs, base included into ovary region. Tepals 6, yellow, subequal, ovate, lanceolate, 0.8–1.6 × 0.3–0.6 mm, entire forming pouch at apex, glabrous above, dull-white beneath covered with 1.0– 2.5 mm long simple and stellate hairs; outer tepals 3, tapering towards base, apex acute, somewhat hooded and possesses small appendage (up to 1 mm long) with long white silky hairs; inner tepals 3, sub-rounded towards base, glabrous except on main nerve beneath, apex obtuse. Male flowers: perigone tube 2.5–5.5 cm long bearing perigone segments and anthers (ovary, style and stigma absent); stamens 6, uniseriate, opposite to perigone lobes, sagittate, basifixed; filaments opposite arising from the base of perigone lobes or mouth of perigone tube, 1.5–2.0 mm long, glabrous; anthers yellow, 4.0–4.5 × 0.8–1.0 mm, lobes unequal, 0.7–1.0 mm long, opening by longitudinal slits along margins. Bisexual flowers: perigone tube 3.5–7.5 cm long; stamens 6, uniseriate, opposite to perigone lobes, basifixed, base sagittate; filaments arising from the base of perigone lobes, 1.5–2.0 mm long, glabrous; anthers yellow, 4.5–5.0 × 0.8–1.0 mm, lobes unequal 0.7–1.0 mm long, opening by longitudinal slits along margins; ovary inferior, 3-locular, villous, prolonged into an epigynous beak; ovules 4–8 in each locule; style yellowish, terete, 1.0– 1.3 mm long (above perigone tube), glabrous, fleshy, compressed at middle; stigmas erect, grooved in 3-rows along the style, ridges papillate, furrows broadened at base, apex distinctly 3-lobed. Fruits a dehiscent capsule, ripening into three loculicidal valves or irregularly dehisces, clavate, 1.5–4.5 × 0.5–0.7 cm, spongy with perigone, enclosed in the old leaf sheath, covered with dense, silky stellate (0.5–3.5 mm long) hairs; beak 2–4 mm long which ending into persistent, filiform, ca. 7 cm long style. Seeds 8–20, ellipsoid, globose, black, glossy, smooth (without wavy lines); strophiolate, hilum minutely protruded; testa smooth, black; elaisome spongy white; beak 1.0– 1.5 mm long, apex rounded knob-like, curved inside.

Etymology: — The specific epithet honors Prof. M.K. Janarthanam, from Goa University Goa ( India), in recognition of his valuable contribution to the taxonomy of flowering plants of India.

Phenology: — August to November.

Distribution: — The new species is so far only known from swampy margins of seasonally running fresh water stream near Apsinga village, Taluka Tuljapur in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra State, India.

Habitat and ecology: — It grows along swampy margins of seasonally running fresh water stream on black clay soil in association with Caesulia axillaris Roxb. , Canscora diffusa (Vahl) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult. , Coix lacryma-jobi L., Eriocaulon duthiei Hook.f. , Habenaria marginata Coleb. ex Hook.f. , Indigofera glandulosa Wendl. , Sopubia delphinifolia (L.) G.Don etc., at an altitude of about 561 m.

Taxonomic relationships: — Curculigo janarthanamii resembles C. multiflora Zimudzi (1994: 314) , but differs in having vertical, cylindrical, 10–45 cm long rhizomes; pseudopetiolate, 35–75 cm long leaves, 6–8 flowers in distichous racemes; style half the length of the stigma which is grooved in 3-rows along the style; capsule ripening into three loculicidal valves or irregularly dehiscing; seeds 8–20 per capsule, beaked with smooth, shiny black testa and spongy white elaisome. In its natural habitat, underground perennial rhizome sprouts and new leaves are usually produced in response to the monsoon rain in the month of June, and vegetative growth continues until October. Inflorescences are produced during the vegetative growing season. Seeds are produced rapidly and aerial parts die back to underground perennial rhizomes so that plant remains dormant during the dry season (6–7 months). Elaisome (white spongy structure) of seed is sweet in taste and may attract ants for seed dispersal.