Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2022 | 14(1): 20526–20529

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5956.14.1.20526-20529

#5956 | Received 07 April 2020 | Final received 03 January 2022 | Finally accepted 10 January 2022

 

 

 

Ipomoea laxiflora H.J. Chowdhery & Debta (Convolvulaceae): new records for the Western Ghats and semiarid regions

 

Sachin M. Patil 1, Ajit M. Vasava 2, Vinay M. Raole 3  & Kishore S. Rajput 4

 

1 Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra 416004, India.

2-4 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat 390002, India.

1 sach2010d@gmail.com, 2 ajitvsv@gmail.com, 3 vinaysar@reddifmail.com, 4 ks.rajput15@yahoo.com (corresponding author)

 

 

 

Editor: Mandar Nilkanth Datar, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India. Date of publication: 26 January 2022 (online & print)

 

Citation: Patil, S.M., A.M. Vasava, V.M. Raole & K.S. Rajput (2022). Ipomoea laxiflora H.J. Chowdhery & Debta (Convolvulaceae): new records for the Western Ghats and semiarid regions. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(1): 20526–20529. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5956.14.1.20526-20529

 

Copyright: © Patil et al. 2022. 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: No funds received to carry present work.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

 

 

 

Ipomoea L. is one of the largest genera of the family Convolvulaceae Juss., growing naturally in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions (Kattee et al. 2019). Members of the family are characterised by their twining and trailing herbaceous or perennial habit, whereas shrubs or trees are rare. About 650 species are reported worldwide in Convolvulaceae (Mabberley 2017); of which 64 species are reported from different biogeographical regions of India (Shimpale et al. 2014; Kattee et al. 2019). Many of them have been used as ornamental plants with a popular English name ‘morning glory’, in foods, medicines, and in religious rituals (Meira et al. 2012). During field trips to different regions of Gujarat state for collection of Ipomoea and other species of the Convolvulaceae for histological studies, the authors collected a few specimens of Ipomoea (looking similar to I. triloba) with glabrous fruits. After studying the literature (Chowdhery & Debta 2009; Singh et al. 2011; Kattee et al. 2019) and comparing with the herbarium specimens deposited in The New College Herbarium & Shivaji University Kolhapur (SUK) Herbarium, the collected specimens were identified as I. laxiflora H.J.Chowdhery & Debta. I. laxiflora is known from northern India (Uttarakhand) and recently reported from Deccan peninsula (eastern region of Kolhapur district) by Kattee et al. (2019). It has not been reported from the Western Ghats (including the Kolhapur district), however, now it is collected from the Dangs (Western Ghats region of Gujarat) and semiarid regions of Gujarat. Herewith, the species is reported as a new distribution record for the Western Ghats and semiarid region of India. The presence of this species in these regions will help researchers working in the area to understand the distribution pattern of this endemic species. This discovery also hints towards its possible wider distribution range. A detailed description, distribution conservation status, and photographs (Image 1) of I. laxiflora are provided herewith.

 

Ipomoea laxiflora H.J.Chowdhery & Debta,

Indian J. Forest. 2009, 32(1): 120–121 (Image 1)

Plants 4–5 m (6 m) long, annual climber; stems purple-green, soft, herbaceous, quadrangular, sparsely hairy at nodes; leaves 5–10 × 4–9 cm, simple, showing great variations in shape, cordate or trilobed, acuminate, entire, base cordate; petioles 7–12 cm, purple-green, long, glabrous; flowers 3–7 in lax cymes, monoecious, clumped; peduncles 5–8 cm long, purple-green, slightly verrucose, glabrous, swollen at apex; pedicels 2.5–3 mm long, quadrangular, glabrous, elongated in fruits; bracts 2–4 mm long, linear, caducous; calyx 5, fused, green with purple tinged at tip; lobes 0.7–0.9 × 0.2–0.3 cm, ovate-lanceolata, sub-equal, feebly veined, glabrous; corolla c. 1.5 × 1.2 cm, funnel-shaped; limb 5-lobed; lobes apiculate; stamens 5; filaments 0.7–0.8 cm long, unequal, included, hairy at base; ovary c. 1 × 1.5 mm, glabrous; style c. 0.6–1 cm long; stigma unlobed or bilobed; capsules ovoid, 5 × 6 mm, 4-valved, with purple tinge at young, glabrous; seeds 4 per capsule, ovoid to deltoid, brownish-black, c. 4 × 4 mm, glabrous.

Flowering period: September–October

Distribution: India

Note: In India this was reported from Uttarakhand and Maharashtra. However, now it is collected from the Western Ghats (The Dangs) and semi-arid regions (Vadodara, Panchmahal, and Rajkot) of Gujarat state (Figure 1).

Conservation status: Ipomoea laxiflora is an endemic species collected from different regions of India (Singh et al. 2015). In the present work it has been collected from the Western Ghats and semiarid regions of India. About 30–80 individuals were found per locality and the area of occupancy (AOO) is 150–250 km2 by using the Geo-CAT software. However, other forest regions are yet to be explored completely and  the species may be distributed under similar ecological conditions. Hence, more floristic surveys are needed to determine and document the full range of distribution of Ipomoea laxiflora.

Ecology: The species grows from high rainfall regions (>1,300 mm) to low rainfall (<400 mm) regions. It grows on sandy gravelly or sandy alluvial soil on hilly terrain, foot hills and hill slopes. It also occurs in human habitats particularly on farm or home fencing and compound walls of industries, along road sides and in open areas. The phyto-associates observed in various areas are Capparis decidua (Forssk.) Edgew., Euphorbia sp., Ficus hispida L.f., Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre, Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC., P. cineraria (L.) Druce, and Ziziphus sp.

Specimens examined: 1001 (BARO!) 2019, Gujarat, Dangs forest (20°45’38”N & 73°41’54”̎E), coll. Patil, Vasava & Rajput; 105 (BARO!), 2015, Rajkot (22°17’06”N & 70°44’35”̎E), coll Rajput; 1541, 1542, 1543 (The New College Herbarium! & SUK!) 2016, Maharashtra-Kolhapur district, Ichalkaranji, coll. Kattee & Shimpale; 1544, 1545 (The New College Herbarium! & SUK!) 2016, Gadchiroli coll. Kattee & Shimpale

 

For figure & image - - click here

 

 

References

 

Chowdhery, H.J. & M.R. Debta (2009). A new species of Ipomoea L. (Convolvulaceae) from India. Indian Journal of Forestry 32(1): 119–121.

Kattee, A.V., C.R. Patil, S.L. Patel, V.I. Kahalkar & V.B. Shimpale (2019). Notes on the occurrence of Ipomoea acanthocarpa and Ipomoea laxiflora (Convolvulaceae) in India. Rheedea 29(3): 209–214.

Mabberley, D.J. (2017). The Plant-Book: A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Fourth edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 466–467 pp.

Meira, M., da E.P. Silva, J.P. David & J.M. David (2012). Review of Genus Ipomoea: Traditional uses, chemistry and biological activities. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 22(3): 682–713.

Shimpale, V.B., M.A. Kare, D.K. Londhe & A.S. Bhuktar (2014). On the occurrence of Ipomoea tenuipes (Convolvulaceae) in India. Rheedea 24(2): 117–119.

Singh, A.K., R.K. Sahu & M. Srivastava (2011). On the occurrence of Ipomoea laxiflora in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Journal of Forestry 34(3): 335–338.

Singh, P., K. Karthigeyan, P. Lakshminarasimhan & S.S. Dash (2015). Endemic Vascular Plants of India. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata.