Impatiens wolfgangii Lali J. & V. Bhaskar, 2017

Lali, Joseph, 2017, Impatiens wolfgangii-a new scapigerous balsam (Balsaminaceae) from Bababudangiri, Western Ghats, India, Phytotaxa 313 (3), pp. 281-284 : 281-282

Impatiens wolfgangii Lali J. & V. Bhaskar , sp. nov. ( Figure 1 )

Type: — INDIA, Karnataka, Chickmaglore district, Bababudangiri, 2051 m. a.s.l., 10 September 2013, Wolfgang Theuerkauf & Lali Joseph CL 0072, (holotype UASB!)

Similar to Impatiens nilgirica and I. pandata . All the three species are lithophytic scapigerous balsams with 3-lobed wing petals and a lip with or without a short spur. Impatiens wolfgangii differs from the other two species in its smaller stature measuring 7–10 cm in height, creamy or snowy white flowers, a yellow spur, spur 1.8–2 mm long, stout, arising abruptly from the base of the lip, and the posterior wing lobe (basal) longer and elliptic ( Table 1). The new species is endemic to Bababudan Hills, more than 600–700 km distant from either Nilgiris or Anaimudi.

Succulent scapigerous perennial ground herbs, in groups or clusters, erect, 7–10 cm tall, tuberous, tubers small, globose, stoloniferous. Leaves radical (i.e., leaves confined to the base of a scapigerous plant), 5–7/plant, 1.0–1.2 × 0.8–1.0 cm, dark green, glabrous on both sides, petiole 1–1.5 cm long, lamina suborbicular or reniform, base prominently cordate, lobes round, margin remotely and faintly crenulate, setose, fleshy, nerves obscure, faintly 6 or 7. Flowers in scapes, scapes 2 or 3/plant, each scape 5 or 6 flowered, scapes dark red, 7–10 cm long, purplish; flowers creamy white to snowy white, mouth speckled with purplish papillae, 1–1.5 × ca. 1.5 cm, bracts ovate, thick, green or red-tinged, ca. 2 × 1 mm, persistent; pedicels ca. 1 cm long in flower, 1.5 cm in fruit, pinkish. Lateral sepals ca. 3 × 2 mm, ovate, base slightly cordate, obtuse or subacute, greenish or red tinged. Lip (lower sepal) ca. 7.5 mm long, bowl-like, white, slightly yellowish at the bottom inside the mouth, often speckled with purplish papillae, spur short, stout, straight, abruptly arising from centre of lip, yellow, 1.8–2 mm long. Standard cap-like, forming a hood over stamens, ca. 7.5 × 6 mm, entire, obtuse with a small hump on back. Wing petals 3- lobed (including 2-lobed distal lobe), anterior (distal) lobe elliptic and longer, ca. 1.3 cm long from base to tip, only the lobe part 5–9 × ca. 3 mm, obtuse, median lobe the widest, ca. 1 cm long from base to apex, lobe part ca. 3 × 4–5 mm, spheroidal and apex round, posterior (basal) lobe prominently clawed, claw 3–5 mm long, with the same length as the middle lobe or slightly longer, ca. 10 × 3 mm, elliptic and falcate, obtuse, base of anterior and posterior lobes with purplish blotch and beyond that with purplish papillae, dorsal auricle absent. Stamens 5, ca. 3 × 2.5 mm, anthers cohering, white; ovary ovate, ca. 2 mm long, apex acuminate, 5-celled, pale green. Pollen white or creamy white. Capsules ellipsoid, subacute, 1 cm long, glabrous, stalk deflexed, many–seeded. Seeds brownish, minute, covered by trichomes.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Impatiens wolfgangii Lali & Bhaskar sp. nov.: A. Habit; B. Flowers; C. Dissected floral parts; D. Enlarged mouth part of flower showing purplish papillae; E. Lip showing lobed condition and a short stout spur; F. Standard petal; G. Distribution of trichomes over the seed surface; H & I. Short bulbous trichomes & non-bulbous medium-long trichomes on seed showing close spiral banding pattern; J & K. Spherical 4-colpate pollen with broad reticulate exine sculpturing.