Brachystelma maculatum Hook.f. var. breviflorum Nagendra, V.Nagaraju, A.M.Reddy & K.Prasad, 2021

Brachystelma maculatum Hook.f. var. breviflorum Nagendra, V.Nagaraju, A.M.Reddy & K.Prasad View in CoL , var. nov. FigS. 1 View Fig & 2 View Fig

Brachystelma maculatum var. breviflorum is similar to the type variety maculatum , but differs in having ovate flower buds ( vs. lanceolate), narrowly ovate or ovate-triangular, 4.5–5 mm long, straight corolla lobes ( vs. broadly ovate at base then narrowed towards apex, more than 10 mm long, kneeled above down the middle) and bifid inter-staminal corona ( vs. entire).

Type: INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Anantapuram district, Nigidi Reserve Forest , 24.08.2019, C. Nagendra & V. Nagaraju 5170 (holo BSID!; iso Yogi Vemana Herbarium!, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa!) .

Perennial herbs, 40–60 cm high. Tubers with different shapes, generally fusiform, 3–5 × 1–2 cm, rarely globose, c. 3 × 3 cm. Stems slender, terete, unbranched, glabrous; internodes c. 7.5 cm long. Leaves sessile, filiform, 4–11 × 0.1 cm, margins ciliate, apex acute, glabrous. Cymes lateral or axillary, sub-sessile or shortly pedunculate, 2–3- flowered; pedicels filiform, 5–6 mm long, glabrous; bracts and bracteoles small, subulate, acute at apex, glabrous, persistent; bract 1, 0.6 mm long; bracteoles 2, 0.4 mm long. Flower buds ovate in shape; flowers pendulous. Calyx lobes linear, 2–2.2 × 1 mm, acute at apex, glabrous, pinkish-green. Corolla rotate, lemon yellow, basal region with paler colour and prominently black mottled; tube short, 0.8–1 mm long; lobes narrowly ovate or ovate-triangular, 4.5– 5 × 1.9–2 mm, margins revolute and hairy, apex twisted sideways or inward; hairs white, c. 2 mm long; black mottled ornamentation limited to basal portions of lobes. Corona black, 1.6–2 mm in diam., glabrous; inter-staminal corona 5-angled, cupular, forming continuous ring around gynostegium, lobes bifid; lobules short, triangular; staminal corona lobes broadly triangular at base then narrowing towards apex, 1.2–1.5 mm long, 0.8 mm broad at base. Pollinia yellow, ellipsoid. Follicles in pair, divergent, narrowing towards the apex, c. 6 cm long.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from August to September; fruiting from September to October.

Habitat: In blackish-red soils among grasses in dry deciduous forests, at 500–600 m elevation.

Etymology: This new variety is named with reference to its shorter flowers.

Distribution: The new variety is presently known only from the type locality, Nigidi Reserve Forest, Anantapuram district, Andhra Pradesh.

Conservation status: The new variety, Brachystelma maculatum var. breviflorum , is known only from the type locality, Nigidi Reserve Forest. The population here has less than 50 mature individuals spread in an area of about 1 km 2. However, the present habitat is affected by seasonal forest fires, grazing and other anthropogenic factors. The new taxon is assessed here as Data Deficient ( DD) since further exploration in the adjacent hill tracts is necessary to ascertain its actual status ( IUCN, 2019).