Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17597–17600
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4479.13.1.17597-17600
#4479 | Received 08 August 2018 | Finally
accepted 25 December 2020
On the occurrence and
distribution of the narrowly endemic Andaman Lantern Flower Ceropegia
andamanica (Apocynaceae:
Ceropegieae)
M. Uma Maheshwari 1 & K. Karthigeyan
2
1 Southern Regional Centre,
Botanical Survey of India, TNAU Campus, Lawley Road Post, Coimbatore, Tamil
Nadu 641003, India.
2 Central National Herbarium,
Botanical Survey of India, Botanic Garden P.O., Howrah, West Bengal 711103,
India.
1 umarajan10@gmail.com, 2 karthigeyan.murthy@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of publication:
26 January 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Maheshwari. M.U. & K. Karthigeyan (2021). On the
occurrence and distribution of the narrowly endemic Andaman Lantern Flower Ceropegia andamanica
(Apocynaceae: Ceropegieae).
Journal of
Threatened Taxa 13(1): 17597–17600. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4479.13.1.17597-17600
Copyright: © Maheshwari & Karthigeyan 2021. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Botanical Survey of India.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the
Director, BSI and the Head of office, Central National Herbarium, BSI, Howrah,
for facilities and encouragement; Dr. Avishek Bhattacharjee, CNH, BSI for help with making
distribution maps and threat assessment. The first author also thank the Head
of office, Southern Regional Centre, Coimbatore, BSI for encouragement and
support.
The genus Ceropegia
L. (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae)
is the largest of the tribe Ceropegieae, represented
by 190–200 taxa (Meve 2002; Mabberley
2017). The genus is distributed mainly
in tropical and subtropical regions of the old world from the Canary Islands in
the west through Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, southeastern
Asia, New Guinea, and northern Australia in the east (Kidyoo
& Paliyavuth 2017). Karthikeyan et al. (2009) recorded 56 species,
two subspecies and three varieties for India, and according to more recent
estimates the genus is represented by 56 species, two varieties and one forma
(Kambale 2015; Kambale & Gnanasekaran 2016). A total of 40 species and three varieties are
endemic to India (Singh et al. 2015; Kambale & Gnanasekaran
2016) of which C. andamanica Sreek., Veenak. & Prashanth
is the only species known to occur in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Ceropegia are considered very attractive
owing to the intricate ornamental nature of their “fly trap” flowers and their
ecological adaptations. Flowers of
distinctive color, pattern, and shape are unique to
this genus. The Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, with a total geographical area of 8,249km2, stretch from
Myanmar in the north to Sumatra in the south.
This is one of the major phytogeographical regions of India, well known
for tropical lowland rainforests (Nayar 1997). The floral components of these islands show
many similarities with Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Most of the species found on these islands
are also found outside India (Balakrishnan & Rao 1983).
While studying and identifying
old specimens collected from Andaman & Nicobar Islands deposited at CAL,
the authors found a specimen of Ceropegia sp.
collected from South Andaman Island in 1890.
On further examination of the specimen and scrutiny of literature, it
was found to be Ceropegia andamanica Sreek., Veenak. & Prashanth.
It is interesting to note that Dr. King’s collection from Goplakabang,
South Andamans in 1890, came almost 108 years before the species was described
in 1998 from the collections made from Mount Harriet in South Andaman
Islands. The 1890 collection was from a
different locality, from where this species was not reported until now. The species was also collected in the recent
past from different localities by N.G. Nair in 1975, from Herbertabad
in South Andaman almost 23 years before the type collection, and by Sam K.
Mathew from Mount Harriet in 1989, but remained unrecognized. Sreekumar & Veenakumari
collected this species from Mount Harriet (1995) and identified it to be a new
species and published it as Ceropegia andamanica in 1998.
The purpose of this article is to update the distribution data of the
species and provide a detailed description, image of the oldest herbarium
specimen collected 108 years before the type collection, and to map its
distribution to aid the conservation of this rare and narrow endemic species
(Figure 1). A color
photograph is also provided for easy identification. The species is also critically evaluated as
per the recent IUCN category.
Ceropegia andamanica Sreek.,
Veenak. & Prashanth
Blumea 43(1): 215. 1998; Karthik et
al., Fl. Pl. India 1: 160. 2009. (Figure 1 & Image 1).
Type: India, Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, South Andaman: Mt. Harriet National Park, 14.xii.1995.
Sreekumar & Veenakumari 15493 (holotype
CAL0000018036!; isotypes PBL, L).
Perennial herb with watery
latex. Leaves simple,
opposite-decussate, lanceolate, 5–15 x 1–5 cm, chartaceous, base shallowly
cordate, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, dark green above, glaucous
beneath, glabrous, lateral veins 2–8 pairs, more or
less prominent on both surfaces, tertiary veins prominent on both
surfaces. Petiole 0.5–2 cm long,
slender, glabrous.
Inflorescence axillary, pedunculate, in 3–8-flowered cymes; peduncle
slender, 1–2.5 cm long, glabrous. Flowers purple, 4–12 cm long; bracts 3–4 mm
long, glabrous; pedicel slender, 0.5–2 cm long, glabrous. Calyx
5-lobed; sepals 5, subulate, 0.5–1 cm long, glabrous. Corolla 5–12 cm long; corolla tube 1.5–2 cm
long, dilated at base, sub-cylindrical, funnel shaped at throat; corolla lobes
3–7 cm long, connate at the tip, twisted, whip like, purplish, hairy. Corona biseriate; outer corona c. 3x2 mm,
with 5 ovate-retuse bifid lobes, ciliate along margin
and inside; inner corona with 5 erect, club shaped lobes, c. 2x1 mm, glabrous. Fruits not
seen.
Flowering: November–December.
Distribution: India: Andaman
Islands; South Andaman (known only from three localities).
Habitat: Along the edges of
inland evergreen forests in association with Mallotus
resinosus (Blanco) Merr.
and Phaulopsis imbricata
Sweet.
Additional specimens examined:
India: Andaman Islands, South Andaman, Goplakabang,
1890, Dr. King’s collector s.n.
(CAL0000031581!) (Image 2); Herbertabad, 29.xi.1975,
N.G. Nair 3169 (PBL!); Mount Harriet, 7.xii.1989, Sam P. Mathew 20416 (PBL!).
Conservation status
The species is endemic and
reported so far only from three locations in Andaman Islands, India. The extent of occurrence (EOO) of the species
is estimated as c. 33km2 (severely fragmented and with a projected
decline in area of occupancy, number of locations, and number of mature
individuals) and the area of occupancy (AOO) of the species is estimated as c.
12km2. The AOO is measured
against the grid size of 4km2 for each of the three locations. The number of mature individual of this
species is <50.
The threat perception on the
species is assessed here as Critically Endangered [CR B1 b(ii,iii,iv,v);
D] globally.
For
images & figure - - click here
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