Lindernia tamilnadensis M.G. Prasad & Sunojk.

Lindernia tamilnadensis M.G. Prasad & Sunojk. View in CoL Figure 2 View Figure 2 ; A-D

Type: - INDIA. Tamil Nadu: Tirunelveli district, Vijayanarayanam , 40 m, 18 March 2012, M.G. Prasad & P. Sunojkumar CU117880 (Holotype: CALI ; Isotypes: CALI , MH ).

Erect or procumbent tufted herb, up to 15 cm high, rooting from the basal nodes. Stem slender, weak, 4-angled, glabrous, highly branched from the base; internodes about 2.5 cm long. Leaves sessile, 0.5–1.5× 0.4–1.2 cm, ovate, base sub-cordate, apex acute or sometimes rounded, margins entire towards the older parts, 2–4 dentate towards the apex, glabrous, basally 3–5 nerved, veins distinct, lamina glandular punctate. Flowers pedicellate, axillary, solitary, alternately on leaf axils, one per node; pedicel slender, ca. 5-12 mm long, 4-angled, glandular hairy; fruiting pedicel glabrous, erect. Calyx 2–2.5 mm long, deeply 5-lobed, glandular hairy outside, glabrous within; lobes lanceolate, 1.5–2× 0.3–0.5 mm, apex acute. Corolla 4–5 mm long, 2-lipped, white with pale blue blotches on lower lip; corolla tube cylindrical, 3–4 mm long, glabrous; upper lip 1× 1 mm, slightly emarginated at apex, glabrous; lower lip distinctly 3-lobed, lobes 1× 1 mm, rounded, glabrous.

Perfect stamens 2, coherent below the upper lip, filaments ca. 1 mm long, glabrous, anthers 2-lobed, lobes ovate, acute. Staminodes 2, linear, ca. 1 mm long, glandular hairy throughout, dense yellow glandular hairs at the base of filaments and corolla tube below, bluish towards apex, hairs 2–3-celled, a distinct spur present just below the staminodal apex. Gynoecium 3–3.2 mm long; ovary 1.0× 0.5 mm, bicarpellary, syncarpus ovary, ovate–acute, subglobose, glabrous; style 2 mm long, glabrous; stigma simple, bilobed. Capsule globose, 2.5× 2 mm, glabrous, shiny, slightly exceeding the length of persistent calyx. Seeds numerous, minute, 0.3× 0.15 mm, bended, golden yellowish, distinctly 5-ridged.

Flowering and Fruiting

October–January.

Distribution

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and now in Chhattisgarh.

Habitat

It is found in semi-aquatic habitats in sub-tropical, hot, and humid climate. Commonly seen on moist soil near the wetland.

Specimen Examined

India, Chhattisgarh State, Bilaspur District, Kopra Reservoir , 22.061924 N, 82.04736 E, 263 M Elevation, 02/03/2024, TRN-108 GoogleMaps .

Notes

L. tamilnadensis is closely related to L. rotundifolia but differs mainly in comparatively smaller floral parts, in the absence of trichomes at the base of the anterior corolla lobes, the presence of staminodal appendages, undeflexed fruiting pedicels, and globose capsules.