Abstract
A new species of Melastomataceae, Osbeckia yercaudensis, endemic to south India, is described from Shevaroy Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. It is morphologically allied to Osbeckia mehrana Giri & Nayar (1986: 429) and Osbeckia wightiana Bentham ex Wight & Arnott (1834:323), an endemic species from south India, but differs in the height of the plant, size of the leaves, 2–3-flowered cymes, oblong to slightly falcate sepals with irregularly emarginate apex and cochleate or U shaped, margins minutely toothed seeds. A detailed description, photographic illustration and comparison table are provided to facilitate identification.
References
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Brown, R. (1810) On the Asclepiadeae. A Natural Order of Plants Separated from the Apocineae of Jussieu. Edinburgh, London, p. 64.
Clarke, C.B. (1879) Melastomataceae. In: Hooker, J.D. (Ed.) Flora of British India, vol. 2. L. Reev & Co. Ltd., London, pp. 513–522.
Dunal, M.F. (1813) Histoire Naturelle, Médicale et Economique des Solanum et des Genres qui ont ete Confondus avec eux. Paris, Strasbourg, Montpellier, p. 218. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.164866
Gaertner, J. (1788) De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum: accedunt seminum centuriae quinque priores cum tabulis Aeneis LXXIX. vol. 1. Stutgardiae, Tubingae, p. 125. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.102753
Giri, G.S. & Nayar, M.P. (1983) New taxa of Osbeckia L. with a note on O. lineolata Gamble. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 25 (1–4): 241–245. https://dx.doi.org/10.20324/nelumbo%2Fv25%2F1983%2F75166
Giri, G.S. & Nayar, M.P. (1984) A new species of Osbeckia L. (Melastomataceae) from Kerala (India). Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 81 (2): 434–436. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48874366]
Giri, G.S. & Nayar, M.P. (1986) A new species of Osbeckia (Melastomataceae) from southern India. Kew Bulletin 41 (2): 429–431. https://doi.org/10.2307/4102954
Giri, G.S. (1983) A new species of Osbeckia L. (Melastomataceae) from India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 4 (2): 609–611.
Hansen, C. (1977) The Asiatic species of Osbeckia (Melastomataceae). Ginkgoana 4: 1–150.
IUCN (2019) Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 14. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/RedListGuidelines.pdf]
Kottaimuthu, R. & Gnanasekaran, G. (2015) Validation of the name Osbeckia tirunelvelica (Melastomataceae). Phytotaxa 231 (3): 300. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.231.3.10
Linnaeus, C. (1753) Species Plantarum, vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, p. 345. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358364]
Mabberley, D.J. (2017) Mabberley’s Plant Book–A Portable Dictionary of Plants, their classification and uses. Fourth Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 1040. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316335581
Manickam, V.S. & Murugan, C. (2002) Osbeckia tirunelvelica, a new species of Melastomataceae from Western Ghats, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 25 (3): 626–628.
Narasimhan, D. & Irwin, S.J. (2021) Flowering plants of Tamil Nadu: A compendium. Care Earth Trust, Chennai, India, pp. 622–634.
Nayar, M.P. & Giri, G.S. (1984) Osbeckia arunkumarensis sp. nov. from eastern India. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 81 (2): 436–439. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48874368
POWO (2022) Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet. Available from:http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ (accessed 10 November 2021)
Prashob, P. & Sibichen, M.T. (2019) The genus Osbeckia (Melastomataceae) in India. Rheedea 29 (4): 236–305. https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2019.29.4.01
Prashob, P., Manudev, K.M., Sibichen, M.T. & Nampy, S. (2018) Osbeckia saddlepeakensis (Melastomataceae): a new species from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Phytotaxa 344 (2): 185–190. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.344.2.7
Triana, J.J. (1871) Les Melastomace´es. Transactions of the Linnaean Society, London 28: 1–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1871.tb00222.x
Ulloa Ulloa, C., Almeda, F., Goldenberg, R., Kadereit, G., Michelangeli, F.A., Penneys, D.S., Stone, R.D. & Veranso-Libalah, M.C. (2022) Melastomataceae: Global Diversity, Distribution, and Endemism. In: Goldenberg, R., Michelangeli, F.A. & Almeda, F. (Eds.) Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology of Melastomataceae. Springer, Cham, pp. 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99742-7_1
Wight, R. & Arnott, G.A.W. (1834a) Leguminosae. In: Wight, R. & Arnott, G.A.W. (Eds.) Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis, vol. 1. Parbury, Allen & Co., Edinburg, London, p. 183. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3609064]
Wight, R. & Arnott, G.A.W. (1834b) Melastomaceae Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis, vol. 1. Parbury, Allen & Co., Edinburg, London, p. 323. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3609204]