Aristolochia gurinderii K. Ravikumar, Umeshkumar Tiwari and N. Balachandran, 2014

Aristolochia gurinderii K. Ravikumar, Umeshkumar Tiwari and N. Balachandran , sp. nov. Figures 1 View FIGURE 1 & 2 View FIGURE 2 .

Aristolochia gurinderii is a large woody climber with corky fissured bark. Leaves very broad, hastate and cuneate at base. Cymes scorpioid, usually cauliflorus, up to 55 cm long. Flowers bracteate; perianth-tube glabrous inside. Shorter in the length of perianth tube, limb, urticle, style and ovary than A. jackii . Seeds distinctly ridged in the middle.

Type: India: Great Nicobar Island: Gandhi Nagar, North South Road , 18.02.2013, N 6 o 52’ 6.2’’, E 93 o 53’ 16.4’’, 52 m ASL, K. Ravikumar, N. Balachandran & Umeshkumar Tiwari 115494 (Holotype: FRLH GoogleMaps ; Isotypes: K. Ravikumar, N. Balachandran & Umeshkumar Tiwari 115494 FRLH and ANI GoogleMaps , Port Blair).

Woody climbers. Old stem bark slightly corky-fissured; branches obscurely angular, glabrous. Lamina subcoriaceous, broadly or transversely hastate-deltate, 11–21 x 9–21 cm, un-lobed, glabrous, base truncate to slightly cuneate, apex acute to shortly acuminate, margin entire; nerves pinnately 3-nerved, lateral nerves usually once or rarely twice branched (leaf seemingly 5-nerved), raised and prominent on both sides, midrib with 2–3 pairs of lateral nerves, looping below the margin; secondary veins loosely transverse and anastomosing, prominent on both surfaces; petioles 3–8 cm long, glabrous, always bend at base. Inflorescences a scorpioid cyme, cauliflorous or sometimes ramiflorous, 15–55 cm long; internodes ca. 1.2 cm apart, during anthesis, accrescent up to 2.5 cm long; bracts attached to each node, ovate, ca. 1mm long, glabrous. Flowers apparently located opposite to the bract, thus forming zig-zag arrangement. Flowers 3–4 cm long; pedicels with ovary 1–1.2 cm, glabrous, accrescent; perianth brown or pale red (maroon), curved, glabrous outside; utricles ellipsoid, 1–1.2 cm with a stipe of ca. 2 mm long, with 2 ellipsoid glandular bodies inside at ventral side; perianth-tubes 6–8 mm long (excluding utricle), glabrous inside; limb 1-lipped, oblong, erect, 1.5–2 x 0.7–0.8 cm, red, tomentose or villous on the upper surface and at mouth of the tube, veins extending from the base of utricle to the limb; stamens 6; anthers ellipsoid-oblong, ca. 1 mm long, stylar-column 3–4 mm long, 6-lobed; lobes conical, with a prominent annular ring at their base. Capsules broadly ovate, 3–4 x 3–3.5 cm, obtusely 6-angular, glabrous. Seeds triangular-orbicular, 4–5 x 5–7 mm, winged, lower surface smooth, upper surface prominently ridged in the middle, margined; wings 3–5 mm.

Distribution: India. Endemic to Great Nicobar Island.

Habitat and ecology: This climber is located in the Andaman Tropical Semi-evergreen forests and found growing along the perennial streamlet and seen associated with Celtis sp. , Terminalia bialata , Poikilospermum suaveolens, Korthalsia sp., Ficus spp. , Garcinia sp. , Rauvolfia sp. , Premna sp. , Litsea sp. , Dinochloa scandens, Calamus spp. etc.

Etymology: Gurinderjit Singh Goraya, IFS, is an Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, currently working on deputation as Deputy Inspector General of Forests (Research) at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehra Dun. A specialist in the medicinal plants especially in the Himalayan region and he steered a pioneering medicinal plant conservation programme while working with the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT). His boundless interest, passion and commitment towards the branch of field taxonomy, forestry aspects and conservation of medicinal plants made the authors to honour him with this new species.

Conservation assessment: This species is clearly scarce. About three individuals confined to an area of 1 km 2 were observed during the field survey. Though no current information on abundance or direct threats is available it should be kept under Critically Endangered (CR) category. Further studies and explorations in adjacent areas are required to ascertain its actual status. The highly restricted range together with the high human population growth in the region will act as a serious threat to the existence of this species in future.