Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2025 | 17(4): 26932–26935
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9303.17.4.26932-26935
#9303 | Received 12 July 2024 | Final received 20 January 2025 | Finally
accepted 19 April 2025
Ophiorrhiza japonica Blume (Rubiaceae):
a new record for India
Ngasheppam Malemnganbi
Chanu 1, Peimichon
Langkan 2, Thongam
Nourenpai Khanganba
3
& Thongam
Biseshwori 4
1–4 Plant Systematic and Conservation
Laboratory, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Takyelpat, Imphal West, Manipur
795001, India.
1 malemmchanu@gmail.com, 2 apeilangkan637@gmail.com,
3 thongamnourenpai@gmail.com,
4 b_thongam07@yahoo.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: A.J. Solomon Raju, Andhra University,
Visakhapatnam, India. Date of publication: 26 April 2025
(online & print)
Citation: Chanu, N.M., P. Langkan, T.N. Khanganba & T. Biseshwori (2025). Ophiorrhiza japonica Blume (Rubiaceae): a new record for India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(4): 26932–26935. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9303.17.4.26932-26935
Copyright: © Chanu et al. 2025. 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: We acknowledge the director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development- DBT, Imphal, Manipur, for encouraging and granting permission for field surveys. We are also thankful to the locals of Shirui Village for their co-operation. Further gratitude extended to Mayengbam Aldrin and lab members of Plant Systematics and Conservation Laboratory for their assistance in the study.
The Ophiorrhiza genus, belonging to Rubiaceae,
comprises 378 accepted species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions
of Asia, Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands (POWO 2024). There are
64 species of this genus in India (Deb & Mondal 1997; Barik et al. 2018; Hareesh & Sabu 2018; Taher et al. 2020; Nair et al.
2021; BSI 2024). O. japonica is reported to be found in China, Japan,
Taiwan, and Vietnam (POWO 2024). Species of the genus are perennial or annual
herbs, ranging from creepers to tall erect shrubs that have a woody base, with
leaves of simple, uneven, opposite pairs, that vary in size from species to
species. The flowers are pentamerous and epigynous.
The fruit is berry-like with tiny rhomboidal seeds (Don 1834; Deb & Mondal
1997; Taher et al. 2020). With the inclusion of the newly recorded species, 64
species of the genus Ophiorrhiza are
presently known to be reported in India, with 35 taxa possibly endemic to
India.
During floristic exploration of
Manipur, the Ophiorrhiza species was sighted
in its natural habitat, which was then collected for identification. The plant
specimen was recorded from Shirui peak (25.112° N,
94.454° E, 2,435 m), Ukhrul District, Manipur, India.
The collected specimens were identified as Ophiorrhiza
japonica Blume using pertinent literature (Don 1834; Nakamura et al. 2007;
Chen & Taylor 2011; POWO 2024; Tropicos 2024) and
type specimen images available at Kew herbarium and Herbarium Institute of
Botany, Academia Sinica (HAST). This species is a new
record to the flora of India. Deb & Mondal (1997), documented the medicinal
values of O. Japonica in the Indian subcontinent but the geographic
location of its occurrence in India was not mentioned. A sample of the specimen
was brought to the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development
(IBSD), Imphal, and preserved in herbarium sheet for
future reference. The descriptions of the plant are illustrated and described
here in detail (Image 1).
Ophiorrhiza japonica Blume in Bijdr.
Fl. Ned. Ind.: 978 (1826). Ophiorrhiza acutiloba Hayata Icon.
Pl. Formosan. 2: 86 (1912). Ophiorrhiza cavaleriei H.Lév. Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 13:
177 (1914). Ophiorrhiza dimorphantha Hayata in Icon. Pl. Formosan. 2: 86 (1912). Ophiorrhiza eryei Champ. in
Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 4: 170 (1852). Ophiorrhiza
kwangsiensis Merr. Ex
Li in J. Arn. Arb. 24: 453 (1943). Ophiorrhiza labordei H.Lév. Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 13:
177 (1914). Ophiorrhiza monticola Hayata Icon.
Pl. Formosan. 2: 89 (1912). Ophiorrhiza
nigricans H.S.Lo in
Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 10(2): 53 (1990). Ophiorrhiza
tashiroi Maxim. Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci.
Saint-Pétersbourg, sér. 3,
32: 489 (1888).
Type: Japan, Chiba Pref., Awa-gun,
Mt. Kiyosumi, 1937-03-20, Tomitaro
Makino 104364 (Isotype, HAST [62464 digital image!]; syn
K [K000740554 digital image!]); Taiwan, Hualien County, Wanrong
township, ca. 22 km from entrance of Wanjung forest
road, 1,120 m, 1999-05-30, Wu, Shu-Hui 1398 (Isotype, HAST [78315 digital
image!]).
Herb, 40–60
cm tall; stems weak and ascending, subterete, light
green to dark green. Leaves uneven, opposite pairs, ovate, ovate-lanceolate,
ovate-elliptic, elliptic, apex acute or acuminate, 2.5–14 x 0.7–4 cm, margins
slightly upcurved, entire, 4–10 pairs of pinnate veins, adaxially darker, hispidulous or glabrous; abaxially, pale green, puberulent
or glabrous. Petiole 0.4–3 cm, smooth or with fine trichomes or puberulent,
stipules triangular, acute, caducous, 1–2 mm, glabrescent. Inflorescence cymose, congested cymose, with
few to many flowers, hirtellous, puberulent or with
strigose. Heterostylous flowers; long style, 1 cm,
with slender fascicled hairs around the anther, corolla white with a tinge of
pale green at the outer tip, while short style, 0.7 cm, with fine short hairs, hirtellous, scattered sparsely around the throat of
corolla, white to pale purplish-pink ombre towards
the adaxial tip of corolla. Bracts persistent, linear lanceolate, 0.1–1 cm.
Calyx smooth or pillose. Globular hypanthium, 1–5 mm,
usually ribbed-pentamerous. Corolla funnel shaped tube, 1–2 cm, winged
dorsally, outer glabrous to pubescent, pilosulous or hirtellous inside, apex rostrate, white or pinkish. Sub-mitriform capsules, pilosulous to
glabrous reported, but capsules not seen at the time of collection.
Flowering and
fruiting: December–April.
Vernacular
name: Vanaohan (Local dialect).
Ecology and
habitat: Wild, terrestrial, found growing in semi-deciduous, moist temperate
forest.
Specimen
examined: India, Manipur, Ukhrul, Shirui
peak, 25.112° N, 94.454° E, 2,435 m, 22 March 2024, IBSD/M-302 (Image 2).
Distribution:
India (Manipur), China, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
For
images. - - click here for full PDF
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