Phoenix roxburghii J.Jacob, N.Mohanan, Kariyappa et E.S.S.Kumar, 2025

Phoenix roxburghii J.Jacob, N.Mohanan, Kariyappa et E.S.S.Kumar , sp. nov. Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 & 4 View FIGURE 4 .

Phoenix sylvestris auct . Roxburgh (1814 nom. nud.); Roxburgh (1832, pro specim., excl. basionym); Griffith (1845, 1849, 1850); Aitchison (1869); Brandis (1874); Beccari & Hook. f. (Hooker 1892); Gamble (1902); Brandis (1906); Blatter (1926); Fisher (1931); Kashyap (1936); Mahabale & Parthasarathy (1963); Moore & Dransfield (1979); Matthew (1983); Stewart (1972); Barrow (1998); Govaerts & Dransfield (2005), non Linnaeus (1753).

Phoenix roxburghii shares morphological similarities with well-known Phoenix sylvestris , but differs by its taller solitary trunk, larger leaves and leaflets, grouped acanthophylls, musty scented staminate flowers, larger obovoid orange-yellow fruits turning brown at maturity and the pollen grains with very faintly micro-reticulate exine.

Type:— INDIA, West Bengal, Howrah, BSI Campus , 11 Apr. 2008, Joemon & Kariyappa 63201 ( Holotype TBGT!; Isotypes KFRI!, MH!) .

Solitary, dioecious plants, 12–16 m high; stem with persistent leaf bases. Crown hemispherical with about 60 leaves. Leaves up to 4 m long, 1 m wide, leaf sheath with reddish brown fibres. Leaf base rhomboid, vertical, ashcoloured, about 16 cm wide, flat above and convex beneath. Rachis more or less triangular on upper side and convex on lower side, yellowish green. Basal acanthophylls c. 3 cm long and upper one up to 20 cm long, sharply pointed, closely inserted, grouped and arranged in several planes. Leaflets irregular, fasciculate, 18 – 35 × 1.2 – 2.4 cm, each side of rachis with about 120 leaflets arranged in several planes. Staminate inflorescence erect, slightly longer than the prophyll at anthesis; prophyll coriaceous, yellowish green outside, bright orange inside when young, split on adaxial side; peduncle 20 – 30 × 1.5 – 2 cm; rachis 13 – 18 cm long, with numerous rachillae, each 5 – 13 cm long. Staminate flowers whitish-yellow, musty scented; calyx slightly 3-lobed, 2 – 2.5 mm long; petals 3, c. 3 × 6 mm, obtuse, slightly hooded; stamens 6; anthers 4 mm long, dithecous. Pistillate inflorescence erect, peduncle arcuate, pale green, 50 cm long, 2 cm in diameter; prophyll c. 24 × 5 cm, thinner than in the staminate inflorescence, splitting twice between margins; rachillae 40 – 80, arranged irregularly in horizontal whorls, yellowish green turning orange yellow at fruiting, 16 – 27 cm long. Pistillate flowers off-white, 30 – 45 in number, mostly restricted to distal half of the rachillae; calyx cupule 1.5 – 2.5 mm; petals 4 – 5 mm long. Fruit 2.5 – 3 × 1.3 – 1.5 cm, obovoid, green when young, orange-yellow turning to date fruit brown at maturity; perianth lobes persistent in fruits. Seeds 1.5 – 2 × 0.7 – 1 cm, obovoid, round at apex; endosperm homogenous.

Phenology: —Flowers in January to April and fruits in October to December.

Distribution: — India ( Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal), Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Habitat: —Plains, low-lying wastelands and scrub forests.

Etymology: —The specific epithet is in honour of Sir William Roxburgh, the father of Indian Botany.

Additional specimens examined: — INDIA. Tamil Nadu: Trichy District, Srirangan Isls. 1 Apr. 1976, Matthew 1943 ( RHT) ; Trichy , 18 Jan. 2008, Joemon & Kariyappa 57496 ( TBGT) ; Coimbatore , 10 Dec. 2008, Joemon & Kariyappa 63232 ( TBGT) . Andhra Pradesh: Jamuku, West Godavari District , 31 Jan. 1934, Jacob 81790 ( MH) .

Gujarat: Kutch, Gundala, 10 m, 08 Apr. 1994, R.P. Pandey 12069 (BSJO); Sabarkantha, Vijainagar, 26. Apr. 2006, P.J. Parmar 22958 (BSJO); Sabarkantha, Dholasoni F.B., 25. Mar. 2008, P.J. Parmar 23635 (BSJO!); Patan, Harij, 20.04.2009, M.K. Singhadia 25791 (BSJO). Rajasthan: Ujjal Station, Balta Road, 28 May 1965, Wadhwa 9519 (CAL!); Bara Bagh Garden, 12 Mar. 1977, Shetty 4115 (CAL); Sariska Tiger Reserve, Alwar district, 12 Apr. 1984, Pramer 9725 (CAL); Jaipur-Manoharpur road, 23. Feb. 1965, B.M. Wadhwa & D.M. Verma 8366 (BSJO); Pali, Kolar tank near Nagar Talab, 396 m, 13. Feb. 1975, B.V. Shetty 1588 (BSJO); Banswara, Near Danpur Village, 26. Mar. 1977, V. Singh 4265 (BSJO); Jaisalmer, Bara Bagh Garden, 325 m, 12. Mar. 1977, B.V. Shetty 4115 (BSJO); Pali, Kolar tank side, 500 m, 19. Ap. 1977, R.P. Pandey 4633 (BSJO); Tonk, Naya Gaon village along Aligarh—tonk road, 75 m, 13. May 1977, R.P. Pandey 4731 (BSJO); Jalor, Sunda Mata hill, Dantalawas, 380 m, 04 May 1978, B.L. Vyas 5837 (BSJO); Bharatpur, Ghana Bird Sanctuary, 22 Mar. 1982, P.J. Parmar 8631 (BSJO); Alwar, Pandupole, 12 Apr.1984, P.J. Parmar 9725 (BSJO); Sawai Madhopur, Futabundh, Ranthambhore R.F., 06 May1984, S.N. Das 9983 (BSJO); Dudhaleshwar, Raoli Range, 533 m, 28 Feb. 2019, C.S. Purohit 38011 (BSJO); West Bengal: BSI Campus 11 Apr. 2008, Joemon & Kariyappa 63201 (TBGT); Burdwan, 2 Jun. 1965, Dutt 812 (CAL); Midnapur coast, Junpet, 23 Feb. 1965, Rao E 4022 (CAL). Icon examined: — Phoenix sylvestris Roxburgh Icon. Ined. 1192 (CAL; K-photo)

Notes: — Elate versicolor Salisbury (1796: 264) described based on live plants that he grew in his own garden in England and from the other plants introduced by his nurseryman James Lee from Bourbon. But the following short description by him in the protologue as ".... foliis pinnatis, petiolis supra acutangulis, laminis linari-lanceolatis, planis, nervis supra prominentibus..." is no longer enough for the delimitation of his species from its allied one. Moreover, Salisbury neither chosen a type specimen for his species nor by any later workers, and the scanty description also fits well with the circumscription for P. zeylanica Trimen (1885: 267) in all respects. Hence, we concluded that Elate versicolor cannot considered as a distinct taxon from P. sylvestris and is treated as a synonym of P. sylvestris following Govaerts & Dransfield (2005) here.

Studies on the pollen grains (25 for each species) of these two species under light microscope revealed that the exine of P. sylvestris ( Kerala collection, from Varapuzha-the type locality of Rheede’s Katou-indel) is microreticulate to reticulate at distal face whereas that of P. roxburghii ( West Bengal and Tamil Nadu specimens) is very faintly micro-reticulate.