Sida sivarajanii Tambde, Sardesai & A.K. Pandey, 2020

Tambde, Gajanan, Sardesai, Milind & Pandey, Arun K., 2020, Sida sivarajanii (Malvaceae): a new species from India, Phytotaxa 428 (2), pp. 104-112 : 110

Sida sivarajanii Tambde, Sardesai & A.K. Pandey sp. nov. ( Figs. 2 & 3 )

Sida sivarajanii sp. nov. morphologically most similar to S. alnifolia and S. rhomboidea but differs in its conical ovary covered with stellate pubescence, 5 styles, 5 dehiscent mericarps and multireticulate spermoderm pattern. ( Figs. 2–4 ; Table 1)

Type:— INDIA. Maharashtra: Aurangabad district, Kailas Nagar, N6-CIDCO, 19°52’50.0”N 75°20’43.9”E, 569 m alt., 17 October 2015, G.M. Tambde 231 (holotype: CAL!, isotypes: BAMU!, BSI!, BSD!, MH!, DUH!).

Erect, branched, undershrub, upto 1 m tall. Stem terete, green, minutely pubescent with small stellate hairs. Leaf blades on younger shoot much larger (6–8 × 4–6 cm), concolorous, obovate or suborbicular, truncate or rounded at base, margins serrate to crenate, entire towards base, sub-obtuse or acute at apex; those on flowering shoots smaller, 1–4 × 0.5–3 cm, rhomboid to lanceolate, 3-nerved from base, lateral nerves 3–6 pairs, nerves raised on the lower surface, densely stellate-tomentose beneath, sparsely pubescent above. Petioles 2–12 mm long, stellate pubescent; stipules 5–7 mm long, stellate hairy, equal, linear, slightly purplish, caducous. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicels 0.4–0.6 cm in flowers, to 1–1.5 cm in fruits, filiform, pubescent, articulated at about middle. Calyx 3–6 mm across, campanulate, 10–ribed at base, 5–lobed; the lobes 1.7–2 mm long, ovate, acuminate at apex, tomentose with minute stellate hairs. Corolla 2.5–4 cm in diameter, orange-yellow; petals 6–8 × 4–5 mm, obovate, retuse or emarginated at apex, minutely stellate hairy at base. Staminal column 2–2.5 mm long, stellate pubescent; antheriferous at apex, filaments 1–2 mm long, anthers reniform, pale-yellow. Ovary 1–1.5 mm diameter, conical, stellate hairy; styles 5, covered by minute stellate hairs, stigma capitate, yellow. Schizocarps 2–3 mm long, ovoid-ellipsoid, raised at centre, green when immature, light brown at maturity, grooved between mericarps; mericarps 5, 3–4 × 1.5–2 mm, completely included in the calyx, completely covered densely with long stellate and sparsely with simple hairs; awns 1–1.5 mm long, covered with stellate hairs. Seed one per mericarp, 2 × 2 mm, brownish to black, laterally compressed, glabrous at the hilum.

Phenology:— Flowering from September to February; fruiting from October to March.

Distribution and habitat: — Sida sivarajanii is currently known to occur from different localities in Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu states. It is common, along road sides and waste lands, at about 569 m alt. found in association with Sida acuta Burman f. (1768: 147) , Cynodon dactylon ( Linnaeus 1753: 58) Persoon (1805: 85) , Parthenium hysterophorus Linnaeus (1753: 988) , Tridax procumbens Linnaeus(1753: 900) , Senna obtusifolia ( Linnaeus 1753: 377) H.S. Irwin & Barneby (1982: 252) and Malvastrum coromandelianum ( Linnaeus 1753: 687) Garcke (1857: 295) .

Etymology:— The new species is named after late Prof. V.V. Sivarajan for his great contributions in the field of angiosperm taxonomy in India in general and family Malvaceae in particular.

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes): — INDIA: Andhra Pradesh: Chittoor District, Nagari , 2 December 1987, D. Ranga Charyula 1879. ( MH!) . Chhattisgarh: Bilaspur , 22°03’35.5”N 82°08’42.4”E, 262 m alt., 26 September 2015, G.M. Tambde 210 ( BAMU!) . Gujarat: Dahod district , Piplod, 112053 ( BSI!) . Maharashtra: Kolhapur district, HSC Board Campus, Kolhapur , 16°40’44.10”N 74°14’35.30”E, 615 m alt., 4 December 2014, G.M. Tambde 75 ( BAMU!) ; Pune district, Katraj , 9 August 1956, V.D. Vartak 5463. ( AHMA!) . Odisha: Padmayan, 18 November , 1950, 20575. ( CNH!) . Tamil Nadu: Kanchipuram district, Vandalur , 12°53’44.40”N 80°5’14.80”E, 39.5 m alt., 10 February 2015, G.M. Tambde 125 ( BAMU!) . Uttarakhand: Dehra Dun district, Patanjali , 29°54’21.90”N 78°0’14.10”E, 253 m alt., 2 October 2015, G.M. Tambde 221 ( BAMU!) ; Pithoragarh district, Kumaon, Askot , 1 September 1971, C.M. Arora 45494 ( BSD!) ; Pithoragarh district, Nirayan , 7 November 1963, N.P. Singh 31626 ( BSD!) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Sida sivarajanii sp. nov. (A) habit, (B) young twig showing leaves, (C) twig showing flowers and fruits, (D) flower, (E) young fruit, (F) mature fruit, (G) mericarp front view, (H) mericarp dorsal view. Photos: G. M. Tambde from G.M. Tambde 231.

FIGURE 3. Illustrations of Sida sivarajanii sp. nov.: (A)–(G) S. sivarajanii sp. nov. (A) flowering and fruiting twig, (B–D) leaves, (E) flower, (F) mature fruit with fruiting pedicel, (G) mature fruit (H) mericarp front view, (I) mericarp dorsal view, (J) seed. Illustrated by R. D. Gore from G.M. Tambde 231.

FIGURE 4. Comparative Scanning Electron Micrographs (SEM) images of mericarps of Sida sivarajanii sp. nov., S. alnifolia and S. rhomboidea: (A–D) S. sivarajanii sp. nov. (A) mericarp dorsal view, (B) seed, (C) hilum, (D) seed spermoderm pattern from GM Tambde 231; (E–H) S. alnifolia (E) mericarp dorsal view, (F) seed, (G) hilum, (H) seed spermoderm pattern from GM Tambde 041; (I–L) S. rhomboidea (I) mericarp dorsal view, (J) seed, (K) hilum, (L) seed spermoderm pattern from GM Tambde 228.