The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 2/September 1921/The Indian Species of Eriocaulon

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THE INDIAN SPECIES OF ERIOCAULON

By P. F. Fyson, M.A., F.L.S.,

Presidency College, Madras.

(Continued from p. 207,)

20. E. Dianae Fyson, sp. nov. (Fyson. No. 3819 at Eudrasiri) Caulis perbrevis. Folia lanceolata, 3-7 cm. longa, 4-6 mm. lata, plana, glabra. Pedunculi complures, 7-15 cm. aut longiores, glabra. Capitula 5-8 cm. hemi-spherica ; bractae involucrantes sfcramineas and glabrae, quam capitulo longiores aut soquantes, aut demum reflexae. Bractae flores superantes obovato-cuneatae, summo-dorse puberulae, viridi nigrescentes. Flores trimeri. Flos & : sepala in spatham antica fissam, connata, antherae nigraa- Flos % : sepala inaequalia, duo navicularia dorso puberula, unum planum, lanceolatum aut linearium, et quam ceteris brevius. Plate 11.

Peninsular India ; Western Ghats from Mt. Abu and Bombay to Calicut.

I include in this species a large number of forms the extremes of which are sufficiently distinct to be considered good species, were it not for the intermediates which grade into each other, for even the 7 varieties given below are not easily separated.

• Bractae involucrantes quam capitulo longiores.

1 ? floris tertius sepalum planum, oblanceolatum.

Var. a typica. Bractae involucrantes quam capitulo longiores, femini floris tertium sepalum planum. Plate 12.

Salsette to S. Kanara.

A beautiful little plant, the tips of the involucral bracts showing beyond the margin of the head when seen from above. The head itself may be nearly flat, hemispherical, globose, or even ovoid taller than broad, depending apparently on local conditions. The third female sepal is flat but not much shorter than the others and not linear as in the other varieties. The larger heads can be distinguished only by the female sepals (the two larger being much more boat-shaped and the third flat) from E. quinquangulare L.

1 I £ floris tertius sepalum linearium

Var. b longi-bracteatz. Bractae involucrantes quam capitulo mul- to longiores ; floris sepalum tertius latum aut linearium. Calicut. Plate 13.

Leaves 2-2| in. by £ in. and scapes about twice as long. Heads I in. diam. with bracts spreading below over * in, across in all. Corresponds to var martiana of E. quinquangulare and might be considered that plant with one sepal smaller and flat.

• * Bractae involucrantes quam capitulo nee longiores.

Var. c parviflora, Bractae involucrantes capitulo aequantes ; floris tertius sepalum planum aut linearium.

Coorg and N. Kanara.

The head has no rays, the bracts being short, and the flowers are much smaller than in var. a and b. Possibly a poor form of var. a but apparently distinct.

Var. d Bichardiana. Planta robustior ; pedunculi 20-25 cm. ; folia 15-20 cm. ; capitula globosa ; bractae involucrantes breviores, ref- lexae. Ptate 14.

S. Kanara.

A robust plant with globose unrayed heads. Stem | in. thick and 1 in. long. Scapes up to 14 inches very slightly pubescent in the most robust specimens. The third female sepal much shorter than the others and linear. Seeds oblong light yellow.

Var. e Folia quam var a etc. angustiora, etiam linearia ; capitula globosa, alba aut nigrescentia ; bractae reflexae.

Hills near Bombay.

Leaves acicular. Heads small, globose with reflexed bracts, connects var. a to the next.

Var. / triloboides. Capitula nigra aut nigrescentia globosa. Plate 15.

Khandala to Wynaad.

Leaves as in var. a Heads globose, dark almost black, distin- guishable only by the third female sepal being linear from E. trilobum Ham. This variety has in consequence frequently been identified as that species. See p. 139, fig. 3 which is of this plant, but wrongly named E. trilobum on p. 150, also see p. 206.

Var. g conica. Capitula conica, basi truncata, folia linearia.

Mysore to Wyanaad,

Heads conical with horizontal base, very black, because nearly glabrous : clearly connected with var. /. This plant is possibly E. Bouscianum Steud : see Appendix I.

21. E. Sedgwickii Fyson sp. nov. (Sedgwick Nos. 4548 !) 4572 ! 4671 1 4648 ; 4847 ; 4837 ; in Herb. Pres. Coll. Madras.

Caulis perbrevis. Folia tenuia, 7-15 cm. longa, 3-5mm. lata,

perpauca (?) glabra. Pedunculi 10-20 cm. glabra. Capitula globosa,

nivea, valde pilosa. Bractae involucrantes nigrae, bractis flores

superantibus rhombeo-cuneatae, sed albis pilis dense villosis. Ee-

ceptaculum, dense-villosum. Flos $ ; sepala % angusta ; petala 3, aequalia, glandulis magnis instructa, antherae nigrae. Flos ° sepala 2, angusta ; pefcala 3, late-oblaneeolata, magnis glandulis instructa. German tricoccum, Semina oblonga-eliptica, rubro-fusca.

Bombay, Mahabaleshwar on bill sides, on rocks, etc. Plate 16.

Remarkable for tbe very dense covering of white hairs on the floral bracts making tbe heads snow-white ; and for the broad female petals and their large glands.

In general appearance and in the broad female petals the plants are often very like plants of E. horslcy-kundae Fyson, Var megaloce- phala, No. 47, collected by Talbot and Meebold from the Bababoodans to the Nilgiris. The female petals are like also those of E. Geoffreyi, E. Gollettii, etc. where however the receptacle is glabrous. I cannot find anything in Ruhland's monograph to correspond with this and therefore suggest a new species.

III. HIRSUTAE.

Stem disciform. Leaves scapes and especially the involucral bracts hairy, rarely glabrous. Receptacle hairy. Flowers both male and female normal, (p. 148) but petals in some unequal.

About 5 species (10 in Ruhland I.e.) in India and Burma with extensions to China and Malaya possibly two in Africa.

TABLE SHOWING RELATIONSHIP AND DISTRIBUTION.

China.

Var macrophyllum...S. Burma and Straits — Brownianum ...4£ Settlements.

Type Khasia and N. Burma.

Var nilagirense S. India and Ceylon.

— Rhodae Wynaad and S. W. My- sore.

robusto-brownianum ^...Western Mysore.

— gracile and Var Kurzii Burma.

— Wightianum Burma.

~" — — Var Helferi Andamans.

— lanceolatum S. India on West Coast.

Key to the Hirsutae.

• Bracts of the involucre black, or

brownish at the base. Heads 1/3-1 inch diam.

Floral bracts acuminate, hairy, giving the head an echinate appearance (W. Ghats). 23 robusto-brownianum.

Floral bracts dirty white, nearly glab- rous. (W. Ghats, of Mysore and Wynaad). 25 E. Rhodae. Floral bracts black, bairy acute. (Khasia and North Burma, S. India Mountains, Malay and China) ..,, 22 E. Brownianum.

• • Bracts of the involucre pale, straw-

coloured when dry.

Scapes to 20 in. ; heads 1/2 in. ; female sepals unequal, visible beyond the floral bracts. (Malabar) ... 27 E. lanceolatum.

Scapes 6-10 in. ; heads J to f in. ; female petals clawed ; floral bracts white, outer nearly glabrous. (Burma and Andamans) ... 26 E. Wightianum.

Scapes 8-12 in. ; female petals oblanceo- late, without glands ; floral bracts blackish... 24 E. gracile.

22. E. Brownianum Mart. (Wall. Cat. 6066 in Herb. Calc !) ; F.B.I, vi, 576, No. 18 ; Ruhl. No. 117 and E. nilagirense No. 93. Leaves narrow about I in. wide and 15-20 in. long, glabrous or hairy, as also the scapes which are about as long. Heads 1/3 — 1/2 in. Involucre pale, glabrous or hairy. Female flower-Sepals dark, deeply boat-shaped, scabrid on the keel. Petals narrow, with long hairs and large glands Seeds oval, dark brown. Plate 17.

Var. a typica leaves and involucre often (but not always) glabrous, Assam ; Silhet (type), Khasia ; Burma ; Manipur.

Var. b nilagirense Steud. Whole plant hairy and more robust than the type. Leaves usually shorter and broader, but sometimes narrow. Scapes stout and hairy. Heads 1 inch flat or hemispheric. Involucre black, hairy. Female flower: — Sepals less deeply boatshaped Petals a little broader ; otherwise as in the type. See Fig. p. 263.

S. India and Ceylon at high elevations.

Very common in semi-dry or marshy land at about 7000 ft. , forming usually dense tufts a foot or more across. The flowers smell strongly of honey and are visited by small butterflies. The name suggests that this is a variety confined to these regions, but in Herb. Calcutta are sheets from Khasia hardly if at all different. Hooker was the first I think to reduce Steudel's species to E. Brownianum Mart. Koerniche considered it closest to E. Wightianum.

Var. c macrophyllum Ruhl. 1c. No. 95.

Malay Peninsula.

Var. b was founded by Steudel as a distinct species, but reduced by Hooker to E. Brownianum. It was restored to specific rank by Ruhland and because the type has glabrous involucre is separated in his clavis by 24

species,

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Ruhland described (Ic. p. 77) the Malay Peninsula form (var. c) as a distinct species E. macrophyllum (Ruhl. No. 95) but if the sheet so named in Herb. Calc. is identified correctly it is in my opinion the same species. In Herb. Calc. is a sheet from China which might equally well be separated as a distinct species.

23. E. robusto-brownianum Ruhl. (Law in Canara, Dhar- war and Bellary in Herb. Calc. !) ; Ruhl No. 96. Size and habit of the last species but leaves half as long as the scapes. Floral bracts acuminate, very white because covered with thick white hairs, giving the head a white echinulate appearance. Female petals hairy, narrow at the base, with large glands. Plate 18.

Peninsular India, Western Mysore and Kanara. A very striking plant because of the white acuminate floral bracts. There are no sheets exactly like it from Burma of the Malay, but the species re-appears in Yuman (Dr. Henry) in a smaller form. Wall. Cat. 6967 B, des- cribed by me in Kew Bulletin 1914 as E. mysorense sp. nov. is I think this species. [ had not then seen Ruhland's type quoted above, but I have not seen Wallich's sheet again to compare with the type.

24. E. gracile Mart. (Wall. Cat. 6079 in Herb. Calc. !) ; F. B. I. vi 577, No. 19, under E. sericans ; Ruhl. No. 98.

Annual {Mart). Leaves 2-li by i in., tapering to the acute apex. Scapes 8-12 in. glabrous, very slender. Heads | in. globose snow- white. Involucre pale yellow, pubescent. Floral bracts, acute or cuspidate, darkish, pubescent. Female flower : — Sepals boat-shaped, narrow. Petals, nearly glabrous, broadly oblanceolate without glands, unequal, longer than the sepals. Male flower normal. Plate 19.

Burma ; Prome, on the banks of the Irrawaddy {Mart). There is a second sheet Wall Cat. 6082 in Herb. Calc. very similar in external appearance, but the female petals larger and more unequal. Ruhl- and said this species is not the same as E. sericans Mart, and that the latter is E. Wightianum Mart, as also did Koarniche.

Var Kurzii. Kurz. 2638 in Herb. Calc. ! Plate. 20.

Stem and leaves as in E. gracile typica. Scapes about 5 in. glabrous. Heads J in. hemispheric. Involucre horiz ontal bracts oblong, projecting well beyond the margin, pale, glabrous. Floral bracts snortly cuspidate, pubes- cent. Female sepals short and narrow. Female petals unequal, one much the largest and projecting beyond the bracts, glands small. Seeds reddish, broadly oval.

Burma, Rangoon.

25. E. Rhodae Fyson, sp. nov. (Fyson 9696 in Herb. Madras) Caulis perbrevis. Folia iisdem sp. E. nilagirense similes Pedunculi plures 15-30 cm. Capitula globosa 1.2-2 cm. Bractae involucrantes

reflexae. Bractarum flores superantium inferiores albae, acutae ;

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superiores quomodo nigrescentes, dorso pubescentes. Eecepfcaculum

villosum. Flores trimeres flos ? longi-pedicillata, sepala gequalia, navicularia, alba, glabra ; petala magna, lanceolata, sub spongiosa, dorso sparsepilosa. Semen rubrum, glabrum. Flos i o breviter pedi- cellata ; antherae nigrae. (See Fig. p. 265).

Peninsular India ; Mysore and Wynaad in water.

Eemarkable for tbe white sepals and bracts and for the stalked petals as in E. lanceolatum. Also for the long-pedicels of the flowers, especially of the female which are often stalked beyond the .'male re- calling but in reverse, the arrangement of spkelets in Andropogon. The scarious floral bracts, very nearly glabrous, distinguish the plant in the field from the other species of -the group. In the herbarium the plants are characterised by untidy-looking heads, in great contrast to the very firm neat echinulate heads, of E. robusto-broionianum, which occurs in the same localities.

26. E. Wightianum Mart.; F. B. I. vi 576, No. 17 in part; Buhl- No. 92. Perennial (Mart.) Scapes 6-10 in. Leaves half as long, by |-f in., slightly hairy ; as also the scapes. Heads 4 in., globular lby the reflexed involucre, snow white, with white floral bracts, the ower of which are nearly glabrous. Female petals ovate lanceolate distinctly clawed, with small or no gland, and spongey. Plate 21.

Burma. Moulmein etc, Tavoy.

Hooker in F.B.I. I.e. included the Peninsular plant, E. robusto-brownia- num Ruhl. in this species.

Var. Helferi Hook, f, (Heifer 1584 in Herb. Calc. 1 !) F.B.I, vi, 583 No. 38, Euhl. lc. A much smaller plant. Scapes 5-8 in., slender. Leaves 2-3 by | in., acute. Heads i in. Female petals shorter and broader that in the type. Plate 22.

Andamans.

Founded as a distinct species by Hooker but certainly a geographical form and reduced as such by Ruhland.

27. E. lanceolatum Miq. ; F.B.I, vi 577, No. 20; Euhl, No. 99. Scapes slender 5-6 in. hairy. Leaves 2| cm. by | in. at the widest, acute, nearly or quite glabrous. Heads f in., white. Floral bracts short, darkish, obcuneate, but overtopped by the female sepals which are longer and visible beyond them. Female petals shorter or longer than the sepals, oblanceolate, often or always unequal in length. Seeds dark brown, oval. Plate 23.

Western Peninsular on the Malabar Coast. Eemarkable for the glabrous conspicuous sepals.

{To be Continued).