Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26
September 2019 | 11(12): 14627–14628
A new distribution record of Asplenium
scalare Rosenst. (Aspleniaceae) in India
Periyasamy Vijayakanth 1, Jaideep Mazumdar
2, S. Sahaya Sathish 3, Veluchamy Ravi 4 & Ramachandran Kavitha
5
1 Department of
Botany, Arignar Anna College (Arts & Science), Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu 635115, India.
2 Department of
Biological Sciences, Burdwan Town School, Burdwan, West Bengal 713101, India.
3 Centre for
Cryptogamic Studies (CCS), Department of Botany, St. Joseph’s College
(Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620002, India.
4 Department
of Botany, Government Arts College (Men), Krishnagiri,
Tamil Nadu 635001, India.
5 Department
of Botany, Holy Cross College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620002, India.
1 apvijayakanth@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 jaideepmazumdar10@gmail.com, 3 sahayasathish@yahoo.in,
4 ravi.veluchamy@gmail.com, 5 kavibbt@gmail.com
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4359.11.12.14627-14628
Editor: N.P. Balakrishnan, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Date
of publication: 26 September 2019 (online & print)
Manuscript
details: #4359 | Received 23
June 2018 | Final received 08 April 2019 | Finally accepted 04 September 2019
Citation: Vijayakanth, P., J. Mazumdar, S.S. Sathish,
V. Ravi & R. Kavitha (2019). A
new distribution record of Asplenium scalare Rosenst. (Aspleniaceae) in India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa
11(12): 14627–14628. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4359.11.12.14627-14628
Copyright: © Vijayakanth et al 2019. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We sincerely thank Mr. C.R. Fraser-Jenkins, Nepal for confirming the
identity of Asplenium scalare.
The genus Asplenium L. (Aspleniaceae)
in India is currently represented by 72 species (Fraser-Jenkins et al. 2016).
The fern species Asplenium scalare
Rosenst. was first described as a new species by
Rosenstock (1914) from Sumatra, Indonesia.
It was also reported from Malaysia (Holttum
1966; Fraser-Jenkins 2012).
Based on an early collection by J. Joseph from
Thiruvananthapuram, it was Fraser-Jenkins and Chandra et al. (2008) who first
reported this species from Kerala in India.
They found only one specimen at the Madras Herbarium (MH) and thus its
nativity was not verified (see Fraser-Jenkins et al. 2016). This collection was mistaken for A. phyllitidis D. Don by earlier authors.
Here we report the occurrence of A. scalare in Tamil Nadu for the first time. As the previous report was not confirmed, our
new report is the first verified one in India.
It was found only in Kuzhivalavu, Kolli Hills (Image 1).
Its natural occurrence suggests that A. scalare
is native in India, not escaped from cultivation. This species has shortly caudate, simple
fronds, with buds (Holttum 1966; Image 1). It is very rare in India and assessed as CR
(Critically endangered) by Fraser-Jenkins (2012).
Another simple fronded, proliferous species A. batuense Alderw. was reported
from the Nicobar Islands (Fraser-Jenkins 2012).
In A. scalare midrib is not winged on
lower surface, like A. batuense (Holttum 1966).
Asplenium scalare Rosenst.,
Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 13: 214. 1914. (Image 1)
Lectotype (designated here): Indonesia. Sumatra. Batakerland, 1911, Dr. J. Winkler
73 a (S-P-1453; Isolectotypes UC391682, NY00128018).
Synonym: Asplenium subscalare
Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, 2, 20: 6. 1915.
Distribution: India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu—present
report), Indonesia, Malaysia.
Note: In the protologue Rosenstock (1914) did not
mention any holotype. He only mentioned the collector: Dr.
J. Winkler, collection no.: 73a. We traced the type specimens (syntypes) in UC
(barcode UC391682), NY (barcode NY00128018) and S (Reg. no. S-P-1453)
(herbarium acronyms from Thiers 2018).
To fix the application of this name we selected specimen at S as
Lectotype.
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