New distributional record of a raresedge Kobresia (Cyperaceae) from Sikkim, India
Bikash Jana 1, R.C.Srivastava2, D.G. Long 3 & G.P. Sinha4
1,2 Botanical Survey of India, CGO Complex, DF Block, 5thFloor, Sector I, Saltlake, Kolkata,
West Bengal 700064, India
3 Herbarium, Royal Botanic
Garden, Edinburg | Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR,
Scotland, UK
4 Botanical Survey of India, Central Regional
Centre, 10 Chatham Lines, Allahahabd, Uttar Pradesh
211002, India
Email: 2rcs_bsi@yahoo.co.in (corresponding author), 4drgpsinha@gmail.com
Date of publication (online):
26 June 2012
Date of publication (print): 26
June 2012
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) |
0974-7893 (print)
Editor: N.P. Balakrishnan
Manuscript details:
Ms # o3039
Received 19 December 2011
Final received 16 May 2012
Finally accepted 30 May 2012
Citation: Jana B., R.C. Srivastava, D.G. Long & G.P. Sinha (2012). New distributional
record of a rare sedge Kobresia (Cyperaceae) from Sikkim, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa4(6): 2664–2666.
Copyright: © Bikash Jana, R.C. Srivastava, D.G. Long & G.P. Sinha2012. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this
article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by
providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: Authors are grateful to the Director,
Botanical Survey of India for facilities.
BSHC - Botanical Survey of India Sikkim Himalayas
Circle Herbarium
Kobresia, a genus established by Willdenow in 1805, is placed in the tribe Cariceae under the subfamily Cyperioideaeof the sedge family Cyperaceae. The genus is characterized by its
utricles, which are more or less open on one side and in having at least some
bisexual spikelets with male flowers above the female
flowers. There are about 65 species (Govaerts et al. 2007) distributed in the northern
hemisphere, especially at high altitudes in the Himalaya, India, China and
central Asia. About 42 taxa are recorded so far from India. It is one of the important genera in
the alpine flora of the eastern and western Himalayan region of India. It is also an important pasture plant
dominating a vast area of the alpine region where grazing animals feed
extensively on it.
While revising the
genus Kobresia Willd. (Cyperaceae)
in India under ‘Flora of India Project’ of the Botanical Survey of India, the
authors came across specimens in the BSHC herbarium, which on critical studies
were identified as K.harae Rajbh.&
H. Ohba. A scrutiny of
the literature (Clarke 1894; Karthikeyan et al. 1989;Kuekenthal 1909; Koyama 1978; Noltie1994; Noltie & Zhang 2010) and herbaria revealed
that this species is known so far from Nepal only. Therefore, the present collection from northern Sikkim forms
the first report for India.
Kobresia harae Rajbh.
& H. Ohba
in J. Jap. Bot. 62(7):
193, f.1. 1987.
(Image 1)
Type: Nepal: JanakpurZone, Ramechhap District, Serdingma-Dubikharka,
3400–3720 m, 7.vii.1985, Ohba et al. No.8570278 Holotype(TI)
Specimen
examined:13.vii.1996, 3520m, Yumthang, North Sikkim District,
Sikkim, India, coll. G.P. Sinha & D.G. Long,
17821 (BSHC) (Image 2).
Perennial herbs. Rhizome elongated, ca.
4 x 0.3 cm covered with brownish-black scales. Culms slender, erect, 9.5–10.1 cm x 0.5mm,
triquetrous, smooth; base covered with brownish-black lamina bearing outer
sheaths. Leaves ca. 2–7 cm x 1.5–2 mm, much shorter than the culm; lamina linear, slightly scabridat apex, midrib smooth, greenish in colour; sheath 1–2
cm long. Inflorescence erect, racemose, oblong, ca. 2.4cm x 1mm with 4–6 spikes; axis slightly triquetrous. Spikes oblong, 9–11 x 3mm, with about 5 or 6 spikelets. Spikelets all
unisexual, lowest and lateral ones female and terminal one male. Glumes of the lowest spikes broadly
ovate, ca 4x1 mm, glabrous, brownish, margin slightly hyaline, prominently,
1-nerved, apex long attenuate, scabrid, base slightly
sheathing. Lowestspikelets female, elliptic, ca. 4 x 0.75 mm. Glumes of the female spikelets ovate to ovate-elliptic, ca. 2.5
x 0.5 mm, apex slightly acute to obtuse, glabrous, brown, margin slightly
hyaline at apex. Prophyll linear to oblanceolate,
ca. 4 x 0.75 mm, membranous, smooth, brownish, upper portion hyaline, margin
open in upper half from apex to the middle. Male glumebroadly elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 5 x 0.5
mm, apex obtuse, glabrous. Stamens 3; filaments slender. Gynoecium ca. 3 x 0.5 mm; style
3-fid, ca.1mm long; ovary trigonous,obovate, ca 2 x 0.5 mm, smooth, light yellow in colour. Rachiola ¾thof the ovary, 1-nerved, smooth, greenish-yellow in colour.
Flowering
and Fruting: July.
Distribution: India: Sikkim ( Yumthang); Nepal.
References
Clarke, C.B. (1894). Kobresia Willd. 6: 696–702. In: Hooker, J.D. (ed.). Flora
of British India. L. Reeve, London.
Govaerts,
H.A. Rafael & D. Simpson(2007). World
Checklist of Cyperaceae:Sedges. Royal Botanic
Garden, Kew.
Karthikeyan,
S., S.K. Jain, M.P. Nayar, M. Sanjappa(1989). Florae Indicae Enum. Monocot.Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 58–60pp.
Koyama, T. (1978). Kobresia, pp. 112–114. In: Hara, H., W.T.
Stern & L.H.J. Williams (eds.). An Enumeration of The Flowering
Plants of Nepal—Vol. 1. British Museum (Natural History),
London.
Kuekenthal, G. (1909). Kobresia Willd. In: Engler, Pflanzenr. Heft 38: 40–48. Berlin.
Noltie, H. J. (1994). Kobresia Willdenow,
1(3): 333–352. In: Grierson & Long (eds.). Flora
of Bhutan. Royal Botanic
Garden, Edinburgh.
Noltie,
H.J. & S.R. Zhang (2010). Kobresia Willd., pp. 23: 269–285. In: Flora of China - Cyperaceae.Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis), USA.