Sonerila coimbatorensis Murug., V.Ravich. & Murugan, 2019

Murugesan, Maruthakkutty, Ravichandran, Vellingiri & Murugan, Chidambaram, 2019, A new species of Sonerila (Melastomataceae) from the Western Ghats of India, Phytotaxa 404 (1), pp. 58-62 : 59-60

Sonerila coimbatorensis Murug., V.Ravich. & Murugan , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

TYPE:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore District, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, near Umayandi mudakku, 22 December 2018, Fl. Murugesan & Murugan 144502 (holotype: MH!; isotype: CAL!) .

DIAGNOSIS:— Sonerila coimbatorensis differs from Sonerila gadgiliana by having smaller leaves 1.5–4.5 cm wide (vs. 3–5 cm wide in S. gadgiliana ) with 3–5 nerves (vs. 8–10 nerves), petiole sparsely glandular (vs. glabrous), inflorescence a single scorpioid cyme per plant (vs. two scorpioid cymes per plant) with 1–4 flowers (vs. 6–12 flowers), terete peduncle, 6–18 cm long (vs. quadrangular peduncle, 8–15 cm long), pedicel and hypanthium green (vs. light pink with a green tinge), midrib glabrous on the abaxial surface of the petals (vs. midrib prominent with 2–4 glandular hairs), acuminate at apex (vs. mucronate), style 0.4 cm long (vs. 0.7–0.8 cm long) and glabrous capsule (vs. sparsely glandular).

Herbs scapigerous, up to 18 cm tall; tuber small, up to 0.5 × 1 cm diameter, rounded; leaves simple, radical; petiole 1–2 cm long, channelled above, sparsely glandular; blade ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–4.5 × 1–2.5 cm, green on both surfaces, base cordate, sometimes oblique, membranous, margins distantly ciliate, apex acute, hairy on adaxial surface, glabrous on abaxial surface; nerves 3–5, prominent at abaxial side, greenish. Inflorescence solitary, terminal, a scorpioid cyme, usually unbranched, rarely branched; peduncle terete, 6–18 cm long, sparsely glandular, light green. Flowers 1–4, bisexual, actinomorphic, 3-merous, 0.5–0.7 × 0.5 cm diameter; pedicel 0.3 − 0.7 cm long, angular, sparsely glandular, green; hypanthium ca. 0.5 cm long, green, obscurely ridged, obconical; calyx lobes 3, ca.0.1 × 0.1 cm, broadly triangular, green; petals 3, 0.3–0.4 × 0.5 cm, elliptic to broadly obovate, pink, glabrous, base obtuse, margin entire, apex acuminate. Stamens 3, isomorphic; filaments ca. 0.2 mm long, filiform, glabrous, whitish pink; anthers 2-celled, ca. 0.3 cm long, yellow, base cordate, apex shortly acuminate, non-beaked, glabrous; ovary obconic, 3-celled, superior, pluriovulated, placentation axial; style ca. 0.4 cm long, deep pink at base; stigma capitate, glabrous; capsules obconical, 0.3–0.6 cm long, green; seeds many, brown.

PHENOLOGY:— Flowers and Fruits from December to January

HABITAT:— So far this new species has only been found in this environment under shade of moist rocky edges of evergreen forest, between 1200–1400 m elevation.

ETYMOLOGY:— The specific epithet of the new species refers to type locality, Coimbatore District, Western Ghats, India.

CONSERVATION STATUS:— Until now, the new species is known only from a small area in Anamalai Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats of Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu. Thus, we are proposing that Sonerila coimbatorensis be considered as a Data Deficient (DD) species, following the IUCN (2019) recommendations.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Sonerila coimbatorensis Murug., V.Ravich. & Murugan A. Habitat. B. Tuber. C. Habit with branched inflorescence. D–E. Leaves. D. Adaxial surface. E. Abaxial surface. F–G. Flowers. F. Top view. G. Lateral view. H. Stamens detail. I. Stigma detail. J–K. Capsules. J. Lateral view. K. Top view. (Photographs: V. Ravichandran)