Abstract
Strobilanthes sripadensis, a new species of Acanthaceae from Peak Wilderness Nature Reserve, Sri Lanka is described and illustrated. Both morphological and palynological evidence clearly indicate that S. sripadensis is a distinct species. The new species is closely related to S. pentandra, but differs by having short acuminate leaf apex, entire or slightly sinuate leaf margin, 5–7 pairs of lateral veins, outermost bract longer than the inner one, bract, bracteole, and calyx pubescent, white corolla with prominent dark purple lines at throat and fertile stamens 4.The full description, line drawings, photographs, and information on habitat and ecology, distribution, phenology are also provided. It is accessed to be Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List categories and criteria.
References
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<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Balasubramaniam</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> G., Sekar</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> M. & Badami</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> S. (2021) In-vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic properties of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes kunthianus</em></span><span lang="en-GB">. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 14 (5): 2522–2528. https://doi.org/10.52711/0974-360x.2021.00444</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Blume, C.L. (1826) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 14. Batavia. Ter Lands Drukkerij, Batavia, 781 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.395</span></span></span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Carine, M.A. & Scotland, R.W. (2002) Classification of Strobilanthinae (Acanthaceae): trying to classify the unclassifiable? </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Taxon</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 51: 259–279. https://doi.org/10.2307/1554897</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Chen, J.T., Huang, X.H., Lv, Z.Y., Kuang, T.H., Luo, J., Deng, Y.F. & Deng, T. (2020) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes sunhangii</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae), a new species from Tibet, China. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>PhytoKeys</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 166: 117–127. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.166.58831</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Erdtman, G. (1960) Pollen walls and angiosperm phylo-geny. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Botaniska Notiser</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 113: 41–45.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Isrianto, P.L. (2020) Kefir of Keji Beling Tea (</span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes crispus</em></span><span lang="en-GB">) as Functional Beverage for Glucose intolerance. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>International Journal of Applied Biology</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 4 (2): 31–36. https://doi.org/10.20956/ijab.v4i(2).11509</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2019) Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.Version14. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee. 113 pp. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/RedListGuidelines.pdf (accessed 25</span> <span lang="en-GB">June 2022)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Kostermans</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> A.J.G.H. (1981) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Eugenia</em></span><span lang="en-GB">, </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Syzygium</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> and </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Cleistocalyx</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Myrtaceae) in Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 34: 117–188.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Kumar, E.S.S., Rajvikraman, R. & Prakashkumar, R.P. (2020) Note on </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes sanjappae</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae). </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Phytotaxa</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 437 (2): 119–120. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.437.2.9</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Mabberley, D.J. (2017) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Mabberley’s Plant-book: a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses</em></span><span lang="en-GB">. 4th edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1102 pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316335581</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Patil, S.C. (2021) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes pushpagiriensis</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae): a new species from Western Ghats, India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Nordic Journal of Botany</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 39 (5): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03053</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thomas, S., Mani, B., Britto, S.J. & Pradeep, A.K. (2020) A new species of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae) from the Western Ghats, India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Taiwania</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 65: 167–171. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2020.7.1.627</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thwaites</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> G.H.K. (1854) Description of some new genera and species of Ceylon plants. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Hooker’s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany </em></span><span lang="en-GB">6: 65–72.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thwaites, G.H.K. (1861) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Enumeratio plantarum</em></span> <span lang="en-GB"><em>Zeylaniae</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 4. Dulau & Co., London, pp. 241–320.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Trimen, H. (1885) Systematic catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns indigenous or growing wild in Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Journal of the Ceylon Branch Royal Asiatic Society</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 9: 1–137.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Wood, J.R.I. (1995) Notes on Strobilanthes for the flora of Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Kew Bulletin</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 50 (1): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/4114605</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Wood, J.R.I., Borah, D. & Taram, M. (2021) The rediscovery of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes tubiflos</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae) in north east India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Kew Bulletin</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 76: 333–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-021-09935-6</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Balasubramaniam</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> G., Sekar</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> M. & Badami</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> S. (2021) In-vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic properties of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes kunthianus</em></span><span lang="en-GB">. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 14 (5): 2522–2528. https://doi.org/10.52711/0974-360x.2021.00444</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Blume, C.L. (1826) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 14. Batavia. Ter Lands Drukkerij, Batavia, 781 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.395</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Carine, M.A. & Scotland, R.W. (1998) Pollen morphology of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> Blume (Acanthaceae) from southern India and Sri Lanka. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 103: 143–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-6667(98)00030-X</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Carine, M.A. & Scotland, R.W. (2002) Classification of Strobilanthinae (Acanthaceae): trying to classify the unclassifiable? </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Taxon</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 51: 259–279. https://doi.org/10.2307/1554897</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Chen, J.T., Huang, X.H., Lv, Z.Y., Kuang, T.H., Luo, J., Deng, Y.F. & Deng, T. (2020) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes sunhangii</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae), a new species from Tibet, China. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>PhytoKeys</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 166: 117–127. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.166.58831</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Erdtman, G. (1960) Pollen walls and angiosperm phylo-geny. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Botaniska Notiser</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 113: 41–45.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Isrianto, P.L. (2020) Kefir of Keji Beling Tea (</span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes crispus</em></span><span lang="en-GB">) as Functional Beverage for Glucose intolerance. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>International Journal of Applied Biology</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 4 (2): 31–36. https://doi.org/10.20956/ijab.v4i(2).11509</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2019) Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.Version14. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee. 113 pp. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/RedListGuidelines.pdf (accessed 25</span> <span lang="en-GB">June 2022)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Kostermans</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> A.J.G.H. (1981) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Eugenia</em></span><span lang="en-GB">, </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Syzygium</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> and </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Cleistocalyx</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Myrtaceae) in Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 34: 117–188.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Kumar, E.S.S., Rajvikraman, R. & Prakashkumar, R.P. (2020) Note on </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes sanjappae</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae). </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Phytotaxa</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 437 (2): 119–120. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.437.2.9</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Mabberley, D.J. (2017) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Mabberley’s Plant-book: a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses</em></span><span lang="en-GB">. 4th edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1102 pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316335581</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Patil, S.C. (2021) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes pushpagiriensis</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae): a new species from Western Ghats, India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Nordic Journal of Botany</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 39 (5): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03053</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thomas, S., Mani, B., Britto, S.J. & Pradeep, A.K. (2020) A new species of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae) from the Western Ghats, India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Taiwania</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 65: 167–171. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2020.7.1.627</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thwaites</span>,<span lang="en-GB"> G.H.K. (1854) Description of some new genera and species of Ceylon plants. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Hooker’s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany </em></span><span lang="en-GB">6: 65–72.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thwaites, G.H.K. (1861) </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Enumeratio plantarum</em></span> <span lang="en-GB"><em>Zeylaniae</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 4. Dulau & Co., London, pp. 241–320.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Trimen, H. (1885) Systematic catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns indigenous or growing wild in Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Journal of the Ceylon Branch Royal Asiatic Society</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 9: 1–137.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Wood, J.R.I. (1995) Notes on Strobilanthes for the flora of Ceylon. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Kew Bulletin</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 50 (1): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/4114605</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Wood, J.R.I., Borah, D. & Taram, M. (2021) The rediscovery of </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Strobilanthes tubiflos</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> (Acanthaceae) in north east India. </span><span lang="en-GB"><em>Kew Bulletin</em></span><span lang="en-GB"> 76: 333–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-021-09935-6</span></span></span></span></p>