Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2023 | 15(1): 22538–22542

 

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

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8024.15.1.22538-22542

#8024 | Received 21 May 2022 | Final received 24 October 2022 | Finally accepted 18 December 2022

 

 

Sauromatum horsfieldii (Araceae): a new addition to the flora of Manipur, northeastern India

 

Kazhuhrii Eshuo 1  & Adani Lokho 2

 

 1 Department of Botany, D.M. College of Science, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal, Manipur 795001, India.

2 Department of Botany, Siksha Bhavan, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal 731235, India.

1 kazhuhrii@gmail.com, 2 lokhoabba@gmail.com (corresponding author)

 

 

 

Editor: Krishna Upadhaya, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India. Date of publication: 26 January 2023 (online & print)

 

Citation: Eshuo, K. & A. Lokho (2023). Sauromatum horsfieldii (Araceae): a new addition to the flora of Manipur, northeastern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(1): 22538–22542. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8024.15.1.22538-22542

 

Copyright: © Eshuo & Lokho 2023. 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: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The author is thankful to Mr. N. Eshuo Mao and Mrs. A. Pfoziiro Mao for helping in field collection. The author is grateful to the principal and the head of department, Botany, D.M. College of Science, Imphal for their support. 

 

 

 

Abstract: The present paper deals with the taxon Sauromatum horsfieldii Miq. reported for the first time from Manipur, India. The detailed morphological description and the photographs are provided along with the artificial key to the Indian species of Sauromatum.

 

Keywords: Morpho-Taxonomic Studies, Extended Distribution.

 

 

The genus Sauromatum Schott belongs to the family Araceae, tribe-Areae was recognized by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (1832). The generic position of Sauromatum was unstable and differently placed under Typhonium or Sauromatum by earlier workers. However, Schott distinguished the genus Sauromatum from the genus Typhonium based on the characters of connate spathe tube, ovaries with two (rather than one) ovule, scattered staminodes, and short peduncle in Sauromatum. Later, Hetterscheid & Boyce (2000) reduced the generic status of Sauromatum and merged with Typhonium based on the phylogenetic analyses of character matrix of all Typhonium & Sauromatum species (62 species and 12 morphological characters). In contrast, Cusimano et al. (2010) recognized nine species of Sauromatum, segregating the genus from Typhonium based on the study of its chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences; and considered Sauromatum and Typhonium were not sister groups but had a genetic distinctness among the genera.

The genus Sauromatum Schott is mainly distributed in southeastern Asia from China─Indonesia through Nepal, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia (Talukdar et al. 2014; Odyuo et al. 2015; Nangkar & Tag 2018; Sasikala et al. 2019). Nangkar & Tag (2018) described a new species of Sauromatum nangkarense from Arunachal Pradesh. But, later, (Roy, 2018) had reduced the specific status and become synonym of S. meghalayense, where the latter specific epithet had been accepted by Odyuo et al. (2015). A new species of Sauromatum arunachalense was recently described by Tiwari et al. (2021) from Arunachal Pradesh. In India, the genus Sauromatum is represented by six species, viz., S. diversifolium (Wall. ex Schott) Cusimano & Hett., S. brevipes (Hook.f.) N.E.Brown, S. venosum (Dryand. ex Aiton) Kunth, S. meghalayense D.K.Roy, A.D.Talukdar, B.K.Sinha & M.Dutta Choudhury, S. arunachalense U.L.Tiwari, R.Maity & S.S.Dash, and S. horsfieldii Miq. (Table 1).

During the field exploration in Mao area of Manipur, India, the authors came across an interesting aroid plant at Pudunamei Village, growing on the soil. On further investigation and critical examination of the specimen and also from the available literature (Hetterscheid & Boyce 2000; Cusimano et al. 2010; Talukdar et al. 2014; Odyuo et al. 2015; Nangkar & Tag 2018; Tiwari et al. 2021) and further confirmed from N Odyuo 132792, Tiwari 41100, DK Roy 130216, A Nangkar & H Tag 055, and photograph images from https://powo.science.kew.org (Accessed on 19 September 2021), it has been identified as S. horsfieldii. This species was first reported in India from the Tuensang District of Nagaland by Odyuo et al. (2015). The occurrence of S. horsfieldii in Manipur  is an extended distribution and a new addition to the flora of Manipur. A detailed description and taxonomic treatment, habitat photos and an image (Images 1 & 2) of the morpho-parts have been provided for easy identification of the species. A key to six species of Sauromatum reported from India has been given.

 

Materials and Methods

The collection, pressing, and preparation of herbarium specimens were done as per the conventional herbarium techniques (Jain & Rao 1976) and the herbarium specimen was deposited at Herbarium, Botany Department of D.M. College of Science, Imphal. The live plants photos were taken from Sony digital camera cyber-shot DSC-WX200. All the morphological descriptions and measurements were based on living plant specimen.

 

Taxonomic treatment

Sauromatum horsfieldii Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 196, 1856 (Image 1–2)

Homotypic Synonyms: Pedatyphonium horsfieldii (Miq.) J. Murata & Ohi-Toma, Syst. Bot. 36: 254, 2011. Typhonium horsfieldii (Miq.) Steenis, Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 3, 17: 403, 1948.

Heterotypic Synonyms: Arisaema submonoicum Gagnep., Notul. Syst. (Paris) 9: 128, 1941., Heterostalis pedata (Schott) Schott, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 1: 278, 1864., Pedatyphonium calcicola (C.Y.Wu ex H.Li, Y.Shiao & S.L.Tseng) J.Murata & Ohi-Toma, Syst. Bot. 36: 254, 2011., Pedatyphonium kunmingense (H.Li) J.Murata & Ohi-Toma, Syst. Bot. 36: 254, 2011., Pedatyphonium larsenii (S.Y.Hu) J.Murata & Ohi-Toma, Syst. Bot. 36: 254, 2011., Pedatyphonium omeiense (H.Li) J.Murata & Ohi-Toma, Syst. Bot. 36: 254, 2011., Typhonium calcicola C.Y.Wu ex H.Li, Y.Shiao & S.L.Tseng, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 15(2): 104, 1977., Typhonium fallax N.E.Br., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 18: 260, 1880., Typhonium hongyanense Z.Y.Zhu, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 5: 277, 1983., Typhonium kerrii Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 89: 11, 1942. Typhonium kunmingense H.Li, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 15(2): 104, 1977., Typhonium kunmingense var. alatum H.Li ex H.Peng & S.Z.He, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 19: 40, 1997. Typhonium kunmingense var. cerebriforme H.Li ex H.Peng & S.Z.He, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 19: 40, 1997., Typhonium larsenii S.Y.Hu, Dansk Bot. Ark. 23: 448, 1968. Typhonium omeiense H.Li, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 15(2): 105, 1977., Typhonium pedatum Schott, Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 7: 262, 1857.

 

Morphological description

Herbs, 35–40 cm tall, tuber depressed globose, 2–3 cm high and 3–3.5 cm in diameter; roots numerous, surrounding the tuber, creamy white in colour. Petiole glabrous, with a white stripe, dark brownish green to green, 25–30 cm long and c. 1 cm in diameter. Leaf blade 9-pedatified, green, lobes elliptic to lanceolate, margin entire, apex acuminate, central lobe 12 cm × 2.6 cm, lateral lobes gradually smaller, 4–9 × 1.3–2.5 cm. Inflorescence appears after the leaf formation, 1–2 per tuber, c. 17 cm long; peduncle subterranean, whitish-green, c. 5 × 0.3 cm. Spathe convolute at base, outside brown to dark green at basal part, light whitish-brown upper part with brown spot, upper mid-part light brown with brown spots, inside white at base, upper part light brown with brownish-purple spots, c. 12 cm long, c. 5.8 cm in diameter at base, apex pointed. Spadix shorter than spathe, c. 6.5 cm long; female zone cylindrical, 0.6 × 0.5 cm; ovary ovoid to oblong-ovoid, 1-loculate, creamy white, stigma sessile. Sterile zone 2.8 × 0.25 cm, sterile staminodes at base c. 0.4 cm long, bent upward, clavate to aristate, clavate part yellowish white, gradually reduced, become shorter, and finally become smooth. Male zone c. 0.6 × 0.3–0.4 cm wide, creamy white. Fruit zone at the spathe base, berries whitish green, 0.4–0.6 × 0.3–0.4 cm, crowded, obovoid to ellipsoid (Image 1,2).

Flowering & Fruiting: May–July.

Ecology: The plants grow in the open forests and in the kitchen garden along with many herbaceous plants like Eupatorium sp., Fagopyrum sp., Persicaria sp., and Galinsoga parviflora Cav. at an elevation of 1,800 m at Pudunamei, Mao, Manipur.

Specimen examined: India: Manipur: Senapati District, Pudunamei, 1,800 m, 25.3170N & 94.9360E, KE100021. N Odyuo 132792 (ASSAM), Tiwari 41100 (ASSAM), DK Roy 130216 (ASSAM), A Nangkar & H Tag 055 (ASSAM). 

Distribution: India (Kashmir, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur), Assam to southern China and Indo-China, Sumatra to Lesser Sunda Is. (Bali), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia (Table 1).

 

 

Key to the Indian species of Sauromatum

(Six species of Sauromatum are reported from India)

 

1a.  Plant pedatifid; leaflets (1) 3--–7  ………………………………………… ………………………..… 2

1b.  Plant pedatisect; leaflets 7–12 (–17)  ……………………………………………………………....…… 3

 

2a.  Leaf blade diversified (often in one plant) from simple to pedatisect ………………………………………………………..… S. diversifolium

2b.  Leaf blade oblanceolate, pedatisect, 5–7 leaflets ………………………… ……………………………………. S. arunachalense

 

3a.  Spathe tube connate; one type of staminode present …………………………………… ……………………………………   4

3b.  Spathe tube convolute; two types of staminode present …………………………………… ……………………………  5

 

4a.  Inflorescence appears before leaves; spathe tube dark purple inside …………………………………………………………....…. S. venosum

4b.  Inflorescence appears alongside first developing leaf; spathe tube greenish to white ….………………………………………… S. brevipes

 

5a.  Peduncle greenish white; spathe tube brownish-green outside, inside with white at the basal region; upper light brown with deep brown spots ……… ………………………………… … …..………… S. horsfieldii

5b.  Peduncle purplish brown; spathe tube purplish-brown to dark brown outside; inside purple but creamy to white on margin and toward the limp inside  …………………………………...… S. meghalayense

 

 

Table 1. Distribution of Sauromatum species in India (Sasikala et al. 2019).

 

Name of the species

Distribution

1

S. diversifolium

Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh.

2

S. brevipes

Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal

3

S. venosum

Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

4

S. meghalayense

Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh

5

S. arunachalense

Arunachal Pradesh

6

S. horsfieldii

Kashmir, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur

 

 

For images – click here for full PDF

 

 

References

 

Cusimano, N., M.D. Barrett, W.L.A. Hetterscheid & S. Renner (2010). A phylogeny of the Areae (Araceae) implies that Typhonium, Sauromatum, and the Australian species of Typhonium are distinct clades. Taxon 59(2): 439–447.

Hetterscheid, W.L.A. & P.C. Boyce (2000).  A reclassification of Sauromatum Schott and new species of Typhonium Schott (Araceae). Aroideana 23: 48–55.

Jain, S.K. & R.R. Rao (1976). A Handbook of Field and Herbarium Methods. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, 158 pp.

Nangkar, A. & H. Tag (2018). Sauromatum nangkarense (Araceae: Areae)-a new species from Arunachal Himalaya. Pleione 12(1): 87–93. https://doi.org/10.26679/Pleione.13.1.2019.192-197

Odyuo, N., D.K. Roy, S. Dey & A.A. Mao (2015). Sauromatumhorsfieldii (Araceae-Areae): an addition to the Flora of India. Telopea 18: 227–232. https://doi.org/10.7751/telopea8886

Roy, D.K. (2018). Note on the correct identity of Sauromatum nangkarense (Araceae). Nelumbo. 60(2): 162. https://doi.org/10.20324/nelumbo/v60/2018/138095

Sasikala, K., E. Vajravelu & P. Daniel (2019). Araceae, pp. 289-299. In: Nair, V.J. & P. Singh (eds.). Fascicles of Flora of India, Fascicle 29. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 357 pp.

Schott, H.W. (1832).  Araceae, pp. 16–22. In: Schott, H.W. & S. Endlicher (eds.). Meletemata Botanica. Gerold, Vienna, 48 pp.

Talukdar, A.D., D.K. Roy, B.K. Sinha & M.D. Choudhury (2014). Sauromatum meghalayense (Araceae; Tribe: Areae), a new species from Meghalaya, India. NeBIO 5(3): 1–3.

Tiwari, U.L., R. Maity & S.S. Dash (2021). A new species of Sauromatum (Araceae) from North-East India. Nelumbo 63(1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.20324/nelumbo/v63/2021/164397