Crawfurdia delavayi Franch., Bull. Soc. Bot.

Crawfurdia delavayi Franch., Bull. Soc. Bot. View in CoL France 46: 306. 1899. Lectotype (designated here):

CHINA, “La Chine Occidentale, sur le mont Tsang-chan, au dessus de Tali, parmi les Bambous nains, alt. 3500 m.”, 26.09.1886, Delavay n. 143 ( P [ P00354080 , digital image!]); residual syntypes: ibid., 26.09.1884 ( A [ A00072167 , digital image!], P [ P00354081 , P00354083 , P00354084 , digital images!], UPS [V-089224, V-1155359, digital images!); 26.08.1886 ( P [ P00354082 , digital image!]), 20.08.1887 ( P [ P00354085 , digital image!]); 29.09.1889 ( P [ P00354086 , digital image!]). Figs. 1–2 View Fig View Fig

Twining herbs. Stems terete, spirally twisted,

glabrous to glabrescent. Leaves opposite,

coriaceous, sessile to shortly petiolate; petiole slightly flattened, up to 0.5 cm long, grooved

towards stem, slightly broadened towards base;

lamina lanceolate to ovate, 1–4.5 × 0.3–2 cm,

base acute to cuneate, sometimes rounded,

margin entire to slightly crenate, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous on both surfaces, bright

green adaxially, dull green abaxially; venation

multicostate, reticulate, basal nerves 3–5,

prominent. Inflorescence axillary, 1–2-flowered

at each axil; pedicels terete, up to 1 cm long,

glabrous. Bracts mostly caducous, very minute,

linear to narrow lanceolate, 0.1–0.2 cm long,

green–purple. Calyx campanulate to tubular,

5-lobed at apex; lobes linear to lanceolate, 0.1–

0.4 cm long, margins entire, apex acute, glabrous,

green; tube 0.8–1.2 cm long, slit at one side, apex

without intracalycular membrane, glabrous,

green. Corolla campanulate, 3–3.5 cm long,

glabrous, blue-purple; tube ventricose, lobes

broadly ovate, 0.2–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 cm, apex acute,

plicae slightly semi-circular to bluntly triangular,

0.1–0.3 × 2–4 cm, margins erose, pale than lobes.

Stamens 5, inserted at the middle of the corolla

tube; filaments linear, free portion 0.7–0.9 cm

long, all equal, glabrous; anthers ellipsoid, 0.2–

0.3 cm long, glabrous, white. Gynoecium almost

equalling or slightly shorter than corolla tube,

pale green, glabrous; ovary oblong, 0.8–1.1 cm

long; gynophore 0.7–1.5 cm long, slender with

oval nectary glands at base; style linear, stout,

0.5–0.8 cm long; stigma bifid, often recurved,

creamy-white. Fruits not seen.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from August to September; Fruiting from September–October (Ho & Pringle, 1995).

Habitat: Crawfurdia delavayi was found in the open subalpine Rhododendron scrubs at elevations of 3000–3200 m. This species was also found to be often associated with Rosa sp. or Cotoneaster sp. in the similar area where abundant light is available.

Distribution: India ( Arunachal Pradesh) [ Fig. 3 View Fig ], China (North-West Yunnan; Ho & Pringle, 1995).

Specimen Examined: INDIA, Arunachal Pradesh, Papum Pare District, Lal Ane Hills, near Abe

Jering, 3200 m, 20.09.2022, R. Maity & S. S. Dash

46436 ( CAL).