Achyranthes coynei Santapau , 1949 ( Amaranthaceae )-an addition to the flora of Karnataka , India

During exploratory surveys for medicinal plants from the Western Ghats of Belgaum region, an interesting plant species belonging to the genus Achyranthes (Amaranthaceae) was collected. After critical investigation, it was identified as Achyranthes coynei Santapau, 1949. The voucher specimens have been deposited at the Herbaria of Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Belgaum. The family Amaranthaceae is circumscribed with 850 species belonging to 71 different genera worldwide, out of which India is endowed with 60 species under 20 genera and an infraspecific taxa (Mishra & Singh


2001). The genus
Achyranthes has about 15 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions in the world (Shu 2003) of which 2 species (A. aspera L. and A. bidentata Blume) have been reported from Karnataka, India (Sharma et al. 1984).
Achyranthes coynei was first reported by Santapau in 1949 from Khandala, Maharashtra (Santapau 1949). Subsequently, the species was recorded from Raigad, Sindhudurg, Thane and Amaravati districts of Maharashtra, making it endemic to Maharashtra State (Singh et al. 2000;Mishra & Singh 2001). This species was categorized as rare in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants (Sharma & Kulkarni 1987) and in ENVIS Centre on floral diversity (2009) and as endangered by Mishra & Singh (2001). The species was earlier reported only from four locations in Maharashtra State, with an estimated distribution range of ca. 5,000km 2 (Mishra & Singh 2001). The present investigation reports the extended distribution of A. coynei to Karnataka State. The repeated random sampling during the present study, resulted in the recording of this plant at three different localities, namely Madanabhavi of Bailhongal Taluka, Pachapur and Godachinmalki of Hukkeri Taluka in Belgaum District along the road side and on canal bunds.
Status: Endangered: its distribution in all the reported locations is rare and populations are severely fragmented, which needs immediate attention (Mishra & Singh 2001). In the present localities only few individuals have been found in Madanabhavi, while fairly good, fragmented populations were observed between Pachapur to Godachimalki villages, along a stretch of nearly 10km. Most of these populations are along the road sides, while a few are on the canal bunds in the agricultural lands. As both habitats are prone to maximum human interference, the development of conservation strategies for these populations is needed urgently.
Medicinal use: The other species of Achyranthes, especially Achyranthes aspera L. locally known as 'Uttarani' or 'Bili Uttarani' is widely used by local traditional practitioners and Ayurvedic physicians in treating several disorders (Hebbar et al. 2004;Harsha et al. 2004;Upadhya et al. 2009). It was found during the study, that A. coynei is also named 'Uttarani' or 'Kempu Uttarani' by the local community who are using it for purposes similar to A. aspera L. Hence it is worthwhile to work on the phytochemical and medicinal investigations of A. coynei.
Notes: As pointed out by Santapau, A. coynei is similar in appearance to A. aspera var. porphyristachya from which it differs in profusely branched shrubby habit (3.0-3.5 m tall); first erect, later patent, finally deflexed nature of flowers on the inflorescence; opened flowers spreading up to 2.0cm in diameter and their rosy-purplish colour (Santapau 1967). However, the diagram and the description of A. coynei given by Bhogaonkar & Devarkar (1999) did not match with Santapau's description. It is interesting to note that all earlier localities of collection (Pune, Raigad, Sindhudurg and Thane, excluding Amravati) fall on or near the same longitude as of the present locality.