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1 Phytotaxa 162 (1): Copyright 2014 Magnolia Press Article ISSN (print edition) PHYTOTAXA ISSN (online edition) A new species of Memecylon (Melastomataceae) from the Western Ghats, India AMBIKABAI RAGHAVANPILLAI SIVU 1# *, MATALAI KOKKARAMATH RATHEESH NARAYANAN 2, NEDIYAPARAMBU SUKUMARAN PRADEEP 1,ETTICKAL SUKUMARAN SANTHOSH KUMAR 1 AND ALAGRAMAM GOVINDASAMY PANDURANGAN 1 1 Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Karimankode P.O., Palode, Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala, India. 2 Department of Botany, Payyanur College, Edat P.O., Payyanur, Kannur , Kerala, India. # Present address: Department of Botany, N S S College, Nilamel P.O., Kollam , Kerala, India. *Corresponding author, sivuar@gmail.com Abstract Memecylon ponmudianum, a new species of Melastomataceae from Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India, is described and illustrated. The new species resembles M. terminale and M. subramanii but differs from the former by its larger and sessile leaves with cordate and amplexicaul leaf bases, robust and shortly peduncled inflorescences, pedicels distinctly shorter than the campanulate calyx, and from the latter by the terete stem and branchlets, smaller subsessile and amplexicaul leaves, terminal short peduncled umbellate cymes with terete peduncle and the pedicels distinctly shorter than calyx. A key to the Memecylon species with cordate leaf bases occurring in south India and Sri Lanka is also presented. Key words: Endemic species, Kerala Introduction The genus Memecylon Linnaeus (1753: 349) consists of more than 300 taxa, distributed mainly in the Old World tropics (Renner et al onwards). In Peninsular India, the genus includes 34 species with 18 species endemic to the Western Ghats (Gamble 1919, Mohanan et al. 2001, Viswanathan 2001, Viswanathan & Manikandan 2001, Santhosh Kumar et al. 2003, 2004, Rajendra Prasad et al. 2006, Manickam et al. 2007). During systematic studies on the genus Memecylon of the Western Ghats, the authors collected an interesting species of Memecylon from the Ponmudi hills in the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve of the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala state. On critical study of relevant literature and type specimens of Memecylon species, it was found to be quite distinct from other known Indian species. It is described and illustrated as a species new to science here. Taxonomy Memecylon ponmudianum Sivu, N.S.Pradeep & Pandur., sp. nov. (Figs. 1 & 2) Memecyli terminali et M. subramanii similis, a priore foliis maioribus sessilibus, basi cordatis amplexicaulibus, inflorescentia robusta breviter pedunculata, pedicellis calycibus campanulatis distincte brevioribus, a posteriore caule ramulisque teretis, foliis minoribus subsessilibus amplexicaulibus, umbellis terminalibus breviter pedunculatis, pedunculo tereto, pedicellis calycibus distincte brevioribus, etc. differt. Type: INDIA. Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram district, Ponmudi Hills, Kowdiyarmottai, 8 43 N, E, ± 779 m, 30 December 2009 (fl.), Sivu (holotype TBGT!, isotype MH!). 44 Accepted by Hans-Joachim Esser: 6 Feb. 2014; published: 6 Mar. 2014

2 FIGURE 1. A G. Memecylon ponmudianum. A. Habit, B. Branch showing cordate-amplexicaul leaves, C. Inflorescences with flower buds, D. Inflorescence with open flowers, E. Close up view of an inflorescence, F. Stem showing fissured bark, G. Branch with fruits (Photos taken by A. R. Sivu from living plants in the type locality). A NEW SPECIES OF MEMECYLON (MELASTOMATACEAE) FROM INDIA Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press 45

3 FIGURE 2. A I. Memecylon ponmudianum. A. Habit, B. Inflorescence, C. Mature flower bud, D. Flower, E. Calyx with gynoecium, F. Petal, G. Anther, H. Cross Section of ovary, I. Infructescence with fruits (all drawn from Sivu by T. Shaju). 46 Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press SIVU ET AL.

4 Large shrubs or small trees; ± 4 m tall; young branchlets terete, glabrous, greenish yellow when dry; bark thick, greyish brown, deeply fissured, peeling off, internodes cm long. Leaves opposite, cm, oblonglanceolate or ovate, subcordate or cordate and amplexicaul at base, acuminate at apex, obtuse at the very apex, margin entire, coriaceous, glabrous, yellowish-green when dry; lateral veins pairs, conspicuous, raised below with conspicuous, looping intra-marginal veins; foliar sclereids filiform, elongated and loosely packed; petiole absent. Inflorescence terminal, many-flowered branched umbellate cymes, these ca. 2 cm across; peduncles terete at base and subterete at apex, cm long, secondary branches 4 5 mm long, brownish green; bracteoles ovate, ca. 1.5 mm long, glabrous, persistent, light green. Flowers ca. 4 mm across, pinkish blue; buds obtusely acute; pedicels mm long, slender, violet-red; calyx tube campanulate, ca. 2 mm across, glabrous, white suffused with pink, fleshy, deeply - 4 lobed, papillate on outer surface, wavy along margins; disc shallowly striated; petals 4, suborbicular, ca mm, glabrous, acute or apiculate at apex, pinkish blue; stamens 8, equal, incurved in buds, filaments slender, to 3.5 mm long, glabrous, blue, anthers curved, connective with a gland, ca. 1 mm long, white; ovary unilocular, 6-ovuled, placentation free central; style subulate, ca. 5 mm long, glabrous, pale blue; stigma acute. Berries globose, 5 6 mm across with persistent calyx, yellowish red when young, bluish black when mature; seed 1; embryo with wrinkled cotyledons and long hypocotyl. Phenology: Flowering and fruiting occurs during December April. Etymology: The specific epithet ponmudianum refers to the type locality, the Ponmudi Hills of the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala state, India. Distribution and habitat: Memecylon ponmudianum grows in evergreen forests at elevations of m a.s.l. in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (Fig. 3). There is only a single population with about 50 mature individuals of large shrubs or small trees and several seedlings of varying age found within an area of about 8 km 2. The associated species include Uniyala multibracteata (Gamble 1920: 340) Robinson & Skvarla (2009: 153), Tarenna alpestris (Wight 1845: t. 1040) Balakrishnan (1982: 175), Eugenia rottleriana Wight & Arnott (1834: 133), etc. Relationships: Memecylon ponmudianum is allied to M. terminale Dalzell (1851: 121) and M. subramanii Henry (1981: 492), but differs from the former by the larger and sessile leaves with a cordate and amplexicaul base, robust and shortly pedunculate inflorescences, the pedicels distinctly shorter than the campanulate calyx, and it differs from the latter by the terete stem and branchlets, smaller amplexicaul leaves, terminal short-pedunculate umbellate cymes with terete peduncle and the pedicels distinctly shorter than calyx. The diagnostic morphological characters of the new species and the related species are given in Table 1. A key to the species with cordate leaf bases occurring in Peninsular India and Sri Lanka is also provided below for comparison. TABLE 1. Diagnostic morphological characters of Memecylon ponmudianum sp. nov. and related species Characters M. ponmudianum M. terminale M. subramanii Habit Large shrubs to small trees Medium sized shrubs, m Large shrubs, m tall up to 4 m tall tall Leaves Lateral veins Inflorescence Oblong-lanceolate, long ovate to sub-cordate, to cm, cordate and amplexicaul at base pairs with prominent intra-marginal veins Terminal peduncled umbellate cyme Lanceolate, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, to cm, rounded subcordate at base 8 12 pairs, obscurely penninerved with no clear intramarginal veins Axillary and terminal peduncled umbellate cyme Lanceolate, cm, cordate at base pairs of prominent lateral and intra-marginal veins Axillary peduncled umbellate cyme Length of peduncle cm 2 3 cm 6 12 cm Length of pedicels mm 6 8 mm 4 6 mm Calyx tube Campanulate, deeply lobed Campanulate, shallowly lobed Campanulate, shallowly lobed A NEW SPECIES OF MEMECYLON (MELASTOMATACEAE) FROM INDIA Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press 47

5 Additional specimen examined (paratype): INDIA. Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram district, Ponmudi Hills, Kowdiyarmottai, ± 743 m, 8 41 N, 77 7 E, 15 January 2011 (fr.), Sivu (TBGT). Population structure and conservation status: There is only a single population so far reported in elevations of m, with about 50 mature individuals in the evergreen forests, occupying in less than 10 sq km area. The number of seedlings estimated were less than 100 individuals and were prone to severe grazing. Since it is known only from a single population with continuing decline of the number of mature individuals due to various parameters like forest fire, grazing, etc., and following the IUCN criteria (IUCN 2001) for assessing the status of Rare and Threatened plants, M. ponmudianum is considered as Critically Endangered (CR), in the category [B2a, b(v)]. FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Memecylon species having cordate leaves in south India. 48 Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press SIVU ET AL.

6 Key to the species of Memecylon with cordate leaves occurring in peninsular India and Sri Lanka 1. Leaves elliptic-orbicular in outline... Memecylon orbiculare Thwaites (1859: 112) - Leaves ovate, elliptic-ovate, ovate-oblong, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate in outline Leaves with conspicuous intra-marginal veins Leaves with obscure intra-marginal veins Leaves with revolute margins... Memecylon revolutum Thwaites (1859: 111) - Leaf margins flat Flowers borne in sessile clusters on the branches below the leaves... Memecylon hookeri Thwaites (1859: 113) - Flowers in axillary and terminal pedunculate inflorescences Branchlets terete; leaves up to 12 cm long; inflorescence to 4 cm long... Memecylon ponmudianum - Branchlets winged; leaves cm long; inflorescences 6 12 cm long... Memecylon subramanii 6. Flowers fascicled on axillary or lateral tubercles Flowers in peduncled cymes Leaf margins revolute... Memecylon ovoideum Thwaites (1859: 112) - Leaf margins flat Leaves cm long... Memecylon macrophyllum Thwaites (1859: 111) - Leaves less than 15 cm long Leaves ovate or elliptic-ovate, base semi-amplexicaul Leaves lanceolate, base not amplexicaul or semi-amplexicaul... Memecylon depressum sensu Gamble (1919: 504) 10. Branchlets 4-angular; calyx funnel shaped... Memecylon sessile Bentham ex Wight & Arnott (1834: 320) [M. malabaricum (Clarke 1879: 559) Cogniaux (1891:1148), non Kosteletzky (1835: 1517)] - Branchlets terete or subterete; calyx campanulate... Memecylon wightii Thwaites (1859: 113) 11. Inflorescence subterminal and axillary umbellate cymes; peduncle 1 2 cm long... Memecylon terminale - Inflorescence an axillary or lateral short peduncled cyme; peduncle cm long Leaves ovate-oblong, obtuse at apex; calyx campanulate above the ovary... Memecylon sisparense Gamble (1919: 227) - Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate at apex; calyx tube above the ovary saucer-shaped Memecylon deccanense Clarke (1879: 560) Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) for the facilities provided and to the Keepers and Directors of K, MH, CALI, CAL, BLAT for permitting us to consult their herbaria. The logistics support provided by the Kerala Forest Department for the fieldwork is thankfully acknowledged. Sincere thanks are expressed to Dr. T. Shaju, JNTBGRI, for the meticulous illustrations. References Balakrishnan, N.P. (1982 [ 1980 ]) Nomenclatural notes on some flowering plants III. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 22: Clarke, C.B. (1879) Melastomataceae In: Hooker, J.D. (Ed.) Flora of British India 2. L.Reeve & Co., London, pp Cogniaux, C.A. (1891) Melastomataceae. In: Candolle A.L.P.P. de & Candolle, A.C.P. de (Eds.) Monographiae Phanerogamarum 7. G.Masson, Paris, 1256 pp. Dalzell, N.A. (1851) Contribution to the botany of western India. Hooker s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany 3: Gamble, J.S. (1919) Decades Kewensis XCII XCIII. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew 1919: Gamble, J.S. (1920) Decades Kewensis C CI. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew 1920: Henry, A.N. (1981) A new Memecylon L. (Melastomataceae) from Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 77: IUCN (2001) IUCN Red List categories and criteria; Version 3.1. Prepared by the IUCN Species Survival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United Kingdom, ii + 30pp. Kosteletzky, V.F. (1835) Allgemeine Medizinisch-Pharmazeutische Flora 4. H. Hoff, Mannheim, 476 pp. Linnaeus, C. (1753) Species Plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm, 1200 pp. Manickam, V.S, Murugan, C., Jothi, G.J. & Sundaresan, V. (2007) Memecylon courtallense A new species of Melastomataceae from Coutallum Hills of Tamil Nadu, India. Indian Journal of Forestry 30: Mohanan, N., Ravi, N., Kiran Raj, N. & Shaju, T. (2001) A new species of Memecylon (Melastomataceae) from India. Nordic A NEW SPECIES OF MEMECYLON (MELASTOMATACEAE) FROM INDIA Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press 49

7 Journal of Botany 21: Rajendra Prasad, M., Prathapan, S.L., Pandurangan, A.G. & Shaju, T. (2006) Memecylon royenii Blume (Melastomataceae): A new record for India. Indian Forester 132: Renner, S.S., Triebel, D., Almeda, F., Stone, D., Ulloa, C., Michelangeli, F.A., Goldenberg, R. & Mendoza, H. (2007 onwards) MELnames: a database with names of Melastomataceae. Available from (accessed 29 April 2013) Robinson, H. & Skvarla, J.J. (2009) A new genus, Uniyala, from peninsular India and Sri Lanka (Vernonieae: Asteraceae). Proceeding of the Biological Society of Washington 122: Santhosh Kumar, E.S., Raju Antony & Shanavas Khan, A.E. (2003) Memecylon agastyamalaianum (Melastomataceae), a new species from India. Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica 44: Santhosh Kumar, E.S., Thulasidas, G., Yeragi, S.S. & Nair, G.M. (2004) Memecylon sylvaticum Thw. (Melastomataceae) A new record for India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 28: Thwaites, G.H.K. (1859) Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae. Dulau & Co., London, 483 pp. Viswanathan, M.B. (2001) Two new species in Memecylon (Melastomataece) from India. Nordic Journal of Botany 21: Viswanathan, M.B. & Manikandan, U. (2001) A new species, Memecylon mundanthuraianum, of Melastomataceae from India. Nordic Journal of Botany 21: Wight, R. (1845) Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis 3(3). J.B.Pharaoh, Madras, pl Wight, R. & Arnott, G.A.W. (1834) Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis 1. Allen & Co., London, 480 pp Phytotaxa 162 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press SIVU ET AL.