Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana Tiwari, U.L., 2022

Tiwari, Umeshkumar L., 2022, A new variety of Impatiens jurpia (Balsaminaceae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India, Phytotaxa 530 (3), pp. 280-286 : 280-283

Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana Tiwari, U.L. var. nov. ( Fig. 1 & 2 )

Type:— INDIA. Arunachal Pradesh: East Kameng District, on way to Sangchu sollung basti from Chiyang Tajo , 27˚41̍̍ 05.6̎N, 92˚09̍ 05.2̎E, 1524m, 29 September 2017, Umeshkumar L. Tiwari 47801 (holotype: ARUN!, isotype: CAL!) .

Diagnosis: Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana has stem unbranched or rarely branch, young part white tomentose, not swollen nodes; inflorescence monochasial cyme, peduncle hairy at base and glabrous above; flowers yellow flushed with red; lateral sepal 2 mm long; lower sepal spur straight and twisted upward, reddish yellow, apex bifurcate (differ from Impatiens jurpia var. jurpia (1859: 140) has unbranched stem, young branch glabrous, nodes swollen; inflorescence pedunculate raceme, peduncle pubescent; flowers purple or pink or yellow; lateral sepal 5 mm long; lower sepal spur incurved, apex sometimes slightly swollen and bifid, glabrous).

Description: Annual non succulent herb, rarely branched up to 40 cm tall. Stem terete, slightly ridged, without swollen nodes, hairy, purplish red, young shoots and leaves brown tomentulose. Leaves alternate; 3–4 mostly confined to upper parts of stem, petiole 1.0– 4.5 cm long, hairy white with 3–4 pelted glands, exstipulate; lamina oblong ovate, 8–12 × 3–5 cm, base cuneate, oblique, apex acuminate, margin shallowly crenate, setose between teeth, thinly papery, ventrally pubescent along nerves and dark green; lateral veins 5–7 pairs. Inflorescences in leaf axils, monochasial cyme, 2-flowered or rarely 3; peduncle 3–5 cm long, hairy at base and glabrous above, bud yellow with red, glabrous. Pedicel 1.4–1.6 cm long, green, glabrous; bracts 1 × 2 mm long, ovate, acute apex with gland tipped, mid vein not prominent, green, glabrous on both surfaces, persistent. Flower 2.5–3.0 × 3.2–4.1 cm, yellow. Lateral sepals 2, ca. 1 × ca. 2 mm long, ovate, apex acute, margin entire, greenish, glabrous. Lower sepals yellow, bucciniform, 2.8–3.0 × 1.3–1.8 cm with red lines inside; mouth beaked, ca. 1 mm long; spur straight and twisted upward, 1.1–1.4 cm long, reddish yellow, apex bifurcate or emarginate, glabrous. Dorsal petals 1.7–2.0 × 1.5–1.7 cm, obcordate to suborbicular, yellow with red, apex non beaked, dorsally with prominent horn, ca. 7 mm long, red. Lateral united petals 2, 2.5–2.6 cm long (whole), yellow; basal lobe 1.4–1.5 × 0.5–0.6 cm long, obovate, apex obtuse; distal lobes dolabriform, 1.0–1.2 × 2.2–2.3 cm long, apex rounded-obtuse; auricle oblong, 3 × 3 mm long, twisted upward, yellow. Stamens 5, united upright, ca. 4 mm tall, anther lobes obtuse. Ovary glabrous, fusiform, apex acute. Capsule clavate (immature), green. Seeds many.

Phenology. September–October.

Etymology. The Varity epithet is in dedication to “Dr. K. Ravikumar” who had established National Herbarium of Medicinal Plants used in Indian System of Medicine and also establish Raw Drug Repository of Natural Resources used in Indian Systems of Medicine at The University of Trans disciplinary health sciences and Technology, Bengaluru, India formerly known as FRLHT.

Distribution and Ecology. Endemic to Arunachal Pradesh. The variety is only known from Chiyang Tajo of East Kameng district. Observations showed that there were less than 20 mature individuals restricted to 2 km 2 forest areas along stream. Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana grows in moist place near the water fall and streams on rocky slopes with little soil at an elevation of 1650–1800 m. along with Elatostema sessile J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. (1776: 106) , Impatiens arguta Hook. f. & Thom. (1859: 137), Lecanthus peduncularis (Wall. ex Royle, 1839: 83, f. 2) Wedd. (1869: 164), Pilea medogensis C.J. Chen (1982: 109) , Tricarpelema glanduliferum (J. Joseph & R.S. Rao, 1969: 367) Faden (1991: 153) , Selaginella tamariscina (P. Beauv., 1804: 483) Spring (1843: 136) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana Tiwari, U.L. var. nov. A. Habit. B. Leaf dorsal surface. C. Portion of leaf petiole with pelted glands. D. Side view of flower bud; E. Side view of mature flower. F. Mature flower-front view. G. Lateral sepals. H. Lower sepal with spur. I. Lateral united petals-ventral view. J. Dorsal petal-ventral view. K. Immature Clavate fruit. L. Stamens (Photos by U.L. Tiwari)

FIGURE 2. Impatiens jurpia var. ravikumareana Tiwari, U.L. var. nov. A. Habit. B. Flower bud-side view. C. Mature flower-front view; D. Lower sepal with spur. E. Dorsal petal. F. Lateral united petals (Illustration by U.L. Tiwari).