113
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1) © Publications Scientifi ques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.
www.adansonia.com
A new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae)
from the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
in Peninsular India
Madepalli Byrappa Gowdu VISWANATHAN
Bharathidasan University, Department of Plant Science,
Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamil Nadu (India)
vinaa@rediffmail.com
Ulaganathan MANIKANDAN
Manonmaniam Sundaranar University,
Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Sciences,
Alwarkurichi 627 412, Tamil Nadu (India)
KEY WORDS
Myrtaceae,
Syzygium,
Kalakkad-Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve,
Agastyamalai hills,
Peninsular India,
critically endangered,
new species.
Viswanathan M. B. & Manikandan U. 2008. — A new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from
the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Peninsular India. Adansonia, sér. 3, 30 (1) :
113-118.
ABSTRACT
A new species of Myrtaceae, Syzygium agastyamalayanum M.B.Viswan. & Man-
ik., sp. nov., is described here from the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
in the Agastyamalai hills of the Southern Western Ghats in Peninsular India.
Th
is species is allied to Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. zeylanicum by habit
being trees, opposite leaves, terminal and axillary umbellate panicular type of
infl orescence, fl owers in umbellules, funneliform hypanthium, 4- or 5- merous
sepals and petals, many stamens of diff erent lengths, 2-locular ovary with
many ovules and 1-seeded berries but diff ers by leaves being obovate, obovate-
oblanceolate or elliptic, acute at base, obtusely acute or subacute, rarely retuse
at apex; secondary veins 14-20 pairs, without shorter intermediaries, uniform,
prominent, brochidodromous; intramarginal vein prominent; petioles short,
turgid, up to 4 mm long; hypanthium brown-punctate; sepals semi-circular,
rounded at apex; petals reniform-orbicular, cordate or rounded at base, undulate
at margin, obtuse at apex, punctate; berries subglobose or globose, 14.5-15 mm
across, pink to dark black, glabrous; and seed c. 10 × 8 mm. Using IUCN Red
List Categories and Criteria, the conservation status of the species is assessed
as critically endangered based on the fi eld data.
114
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1)
Viswanathan M. B. & Manikandan U.
INTRODUCTION
Th
e genus Syzygium R.Br. ex Gaertn. (Myrtaceae)
is represented by over 1200 species distributed in
the African and Asian tropics, Malesia, Australia
and SW Pacifi c (Parnell et al. 2007) wherein 108
species are present in India (Duthie 1878-1879)
and 30 (Ashton 1981) or 31 species in Sri Lanka
(Kostermans 1981). Of which, 12 species and
one subspecies were regarded as endemics. Sub-
sequently, two Sri Lankan endemics, S. makul
Gaertn. and S. neesianum Arn., were reported from
Silent Valley in the Palakkad (Palghat) District
of Kerala State, India ( Manilal & Sabu 1984).
Over the last several decades, 10 additional spe-
cies have been described from India, including
S. periyarensis Jomy & Sasidharan (Sasidharan &
Jomy 1999) and S. parameswaranii Mohanan &
Henry (Mohanan & Henry 1987) from Kerala
State, S. zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. ellipticum Henry,
Chandrabose & N.C.Nair (Henry et al. 1980),
S. sriganesanii Ravikumar & Lakshmanan and
S. zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. megamalayanum Ra-
vikumar & Lakshmanan from Tamil Nadu State
(Ravikumar 1999). In 1987, Chithra reported 30
species and three varieties from Tamil Nadu State
in India. Murugan et al. (2002), while reporting
S. neesianum Arn. from Tamil Nadu State, inadvert-
ently indicated that their report was an addition to
the Indian fl ora. Further, the twig (Fig. 1A) diff ers
from that of the type (BM000754861, Natural
History Museum, London, and Wight [1843:
t. 533; 1850: t. 15]). Several researchers, includ-
ing the authors of the present paper, have collected
S. parameswaranii Mohanan & Henry from Tamil
Nadu State (Mohanan & Henry 1987). One more
new species, S. agastyamalayanum, is described
here by us from the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve in India. Altogether, the genus in
Tamil Nadu State now comprises 33 species and
four varieties, with 13 species shared by the Indian
and Sri Lankan fl oras.
RÉSUMÉ
Une nouvelle espèce de Syzygium (Myrtaceae) de la Réserve de tigres de Kalakkad-
Mundanthurai en Inde péninsulaire.
Une nouvelle espèce de Myrtaceae, Syzygium agastyamalayanum M.B.Viswan. &
Manik., sp. nov., est décrite de la Réserve de tigres de Kalakkad-Mundanthurai,
située dans les collines d’Agastyamalai, au sud des Ghâts occidentaux d’Inde
péninsulaire. Cette espèce est proche de Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. zeyla-
nicum par son port arborescent, ses feuilles opposées, son infl orescence terminale
ou axillaire de type ombellé-paniculé, ses fl eurs en ombellules, son hypanthium
tubulaire, ses sépales et pétales 4- ou 5-mères, la présence de nombreuses étamines
inégales, un ovaire biloculaire multiovulé et des baies uniséminées ; mais elle en
diff ère par ses feuilles obovales, obovales-oblancéolées ou elliptiques, aiguës à la
base, et obtusément aiguës ou subaiguës, rarement émarginées à l’apex ; ses 14-20
paires de nervures secondaires, sans nervilles plus courtes, uniformes, saillantes,
brochidodromes ; la nervure intramarginale proéminente ; les pétioles courts,
robustes, mesurant jusqu’à 4 mm de long ; l’hypanthium ponctué de brun ; les
sépales semi-circulaires, arrondis à l’apex ; les pétales réniformes-orbiculaires,
cordés ou arrondis à la base, à marge ondulée, obtus à l’apex, tachetés ; les baies
plutôt globuleuses, de 14,5-15 mm de diamètre, roses à noires, glabres ; et la
graine d’environ 10 × 8 mm. Cette espèce est, d’après les données de terrain,
estimée comme en danger critique d’extinction, selon les critères et catégories
de la liste rouge de l’UICN.
MOTS CLÉS
Myrtaceae,
Syzygium,
Réserve de tigres de
Kalakkad-Mundanthurai,
collines d'Agastyamalai,
Inde péninsulaire,
en danger critique
d'extinction,
espèce nouvelle.
115
A new Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from India
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1)
MATERIALS AND METHODS
During an intensive botanical survey of the Kalakkad-
Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu State
of India, the senior author collected fl owering and
fruiting specimens of a species of Syzygium that did
not match any of the described species of Syzygium
in the world. Based on a scrutiny of published and
available literatures, we therefore described the plant
from the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
as a new species.
SYSTEMATICS
Syzygium agastyamalayanum
M.B.Viswan. & Manik., sp. nov.
(Fig. 1)
Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. zeylanicum affi
nis,
sed foliis obovatis, obovato-oblanceolatis vel ellipticis, base
acutis, apice obtuse acutis vel subacutis, rare retusis; nervis
secondariis 14-20 paribus sine nervis intermediis, uniformibus
ad distinctum nervum intramarginalem conjunctis; petiolis
turgidis, ad 4 mm longis; hypanthium brunneo-punctatis,
sepalis semicircularibus, apice rotundatis; petalis reniformi-
orbiculariis, base cordatis vel rotundatis, margine undulatis,
apice obtusis, punctatis; baccis subglobosis vel globosis,
14.5-15 mm in diam., roseus ad atro-nigricus, glabris et
seminibus c. 10 × 8 mm, diff ert.
T
YPUS
. — India, Tamil Nadu State, Kalakkad-Mundan-
thurai Tiger Reserve (8°20’-8°53’N, 77°10’-77°35’E),
Upper Kodayar, c. 900 m, 23.I.1999, Viswanathan 3204
(holo-, MH; iso-, herbarium of the Department of Plant
Science, Bharathidasan University).
P
ARATYPES
. — India, Tamil Nadu State, Kalakkad-Mun-
danthurai Tiger Reserve (8°20’-8°53’N, 77°10’-77°35’E),
Agastiyar Peak, c. 1700 m, 14.IV.1999, Viswanathan
3596 (herbarium of the Sri Paramakalyani Centre for
Environmental Sciences).
D
ESCRIPTION
Trees, up to 15 m high; branchlets many, 4-angled
at fi rst, later subterete, lenticellate; internodes 8-32 ×
2-7 mm. Leaves opposite, obovate, obovate-oblanceo-
late or elliptic, 3-6.6 × 1.5-2.9 cm, coriaceous, acute at
base, recurved at margin, obtusely acute or subacute,
rarely retuse at apex, glabrous; midrib canaliculate
above, prominently raised beneath, terete; second-
ary veins 14-20 pairs, opposite, brochido dromous;
intramarginal vein prominent; petiole turgid, 2-4 ×
1-1.5 mm, glabrous. Infl orescences both terminal and
axillary umbellate panicles, 3-4 × 3-4.5 cm, glabrous;
peduncles 4-angled, glabrous; primary axes 5-10 ×
1-1.5 mm; secondary axes 5-8 × 0.8-1 mm. Flowers
10-20 in each umbellule; pedicels 2-6 × 1-1.5 mm,
slender. Hypanthium funneliform, c. 2.5 × 4.5 mm,
brown-punctate. Sepals 4 or 5, semi-circular in outline,
c. 1 × 2.5 mm, entire at margin, rounded at apex,
glabrous. Petals 4 or 5, white, concave, reniform-or-
bicular, 2-2.8 × 2.4-2.6 mm, membranous, cordate
or rounded at base, undulate at margin, obtuse at
apex, punctate, glabrous; punctate numerous. Sta-
mens many, of diff erent lengths, 2.7-7.5 × 0.7-1 mm,
glabrous; fi laments yellow, 1.8-6 × 0.4-1.1 mm, in-
curved; anthers yellow, reniform, c. 1.1 × 0.9 mm.
Ovary obovate, fl eshy, c. 3.8 × 2.5 mm; locules 2;
ovules many; style yellow, glabrous; stigma minute.
Berries pink to dark black, subglobose or globose,
15-17 × 14.5-15 mm, glabrous. Seed pale brown,
solitary, subglobose, c. 10 × 8 mm, glabrous.
D
ISTRIBUTION
A strict endemic of the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve in the Tamil Nadu State in the
Agastyamalai hills of the Southern Western Ghats
in Peninsular India.
H
ABITAT
AND
ECOLOGY
Th
is species occurs in southern tropical wet evergreen
forests in association with several tree species, includ-
ing Aglaia elaeagnoidea (Juss.) Benth. var. bourdillonii
(Gamble) N.C.Nair, Euphorbia vajravelui Binojk. &
N.P.Balakr., Saprosma corymbosum (Bedd.) Bedd.,
Vernonia travancorica Hook.f. and Wendlandia bicus-
pidata Wight & Arn. and with the following shrub,
Sarcandra chloranthoides Gardner, herbs of Impatiens
hensloviana Arn., Sonerila sadasivanii M.P.Nayar,
S. tinnevelliensis Fischer, and S. travancorica Bedd. as
well as the parasite Balano phora indica (Arn.) Griff .
var. agastyamalayana M.B.Viswan., Prem Kumar &
Ramesh and the epiphyte Dendrobium panduratum
Lindl. subsp. villosum Gopalan & Henry.
P
HENOLOGY
Flowering in January and February; fruiting in
March and April.
116
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1)
Viswanathan M. B. & Manikandan U.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
F
IG
. 1. — Syzygium agastyamalayanum M.B.Viswan. & Manik., sp. nov.:
A, habit (fl owering twig); B, bud; C, fl ower without petals;
D, sepal (dorsal side); E, petal (dorsal side); F, petal (ventral side); G, H, stamens; I, ovary; J, longitudinal section of ovary; K, trans-
verse section of ovary;
L, berry; M, seed. A-K, Viswanathan 3204; L, M, Viswanathan 3596. Scale bars: A, L, 10 mm; B, C, I, J, 5 mm;
D, 1 mm; E-H, 2 mm; K, 2.5 mm; M, 11 mm.
C
ONSERVATION
STATUS
Field observations made between 1998 and 2002
indicate that Syzygium agastyamalayanum has an
area extent (as defi ned by IUCN 2001) of less than
100 km
2
(B1); severely fragmented subpopula-
tions (a); extreme fl uctuation (c); only two locations
(iii) and does not exceed 50 mature individuals (iv).
Using the IUCN Red List Criteria (IUCN 2001),
we assess the conservation status of the species as
critically endangered (CR).
117
A new Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from India
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1)
T
ABLE
1. — Characters distinguishing Syzygium agastyamalayanum M.B.Viswan. & Manik., sp. nov. from S. zeylanicum (L.) DC. var.
zeylanicum.
Characters
S. agastyamalayanum
S. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum
Leaves
obovate, obovate-oblanceolate or elliptic,
acute at base, obtusely acute or subacute,
rarely retuse at apex
ovate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate,
rounded or narrowed at base, acuminate at
apex
Secondary veins
14-20 pairs, without shorter intermediaries,
uniform, prominent, brochidodromous
10-14 pairs, with shorter intermediaries,
not uniform, obscure, not brochidodromous
Intramarginal vein prominent
obscure
Petioles
short, turgid, up to 4 mm long
well-developed, slender, up to 7 mm long
Hypanthium
brown-punctate
grey-pruinose
Sepals
semi-circular, rounded at apex
ovate, obtuse or subacute at apex
Petals
reniform-orbicular, cordate or rounded at base,
undulate at margin, obtuse at apex, punctate
broadly orbicular, truncate at base, entire at
margin, rounded or obtusely acute at apex,
not punctate
Berries
subglobose or globose, 14.5-15 mm across,
pink to dark black, glabrous
broadly ellipsoid or subglobose, 4-8 mm
across, white, pruinose
Seed size
c. 10 × 8 mm
c. 6.5 × 5.5 mm
E
TYMOLOGY
Syzygium agastyamalayanum is so named because
it comes from the Agastyamalai Hills from where
type specimen was collected.
R
EMARKS
Syzygium agastyamalayanum M.B.Viswan. & Manik.,
sp. nov. most closely resembles S. zeylanicum (L.)
DC. var. zeylanicum. However, distinguishing char-
acters are shown in Table 1.
Acknowledgements
Th
e authors are grateful to the Ministry of Envi-
ronment & Forests, New Delhi, for funding the
project, Dr Victoria Noble, Curator of Flowering
Plants at BM, for having provided scanned images
(BM000754861-3) and Prof. Simon Owens, Keeper
at K, and Dr P. Lakshminarasimhan, Indian Liaison
Offi
cer based at K, and Dr H. J. Chowdhery, Joint
Director, Central National Herbarium at CAL, for
cibachromes of type specimens. Th
e authors heartily
thank the scientists of Botanical Survey of India,
Coimbatore in particular Dr P. Daniel, then Joint
Director, for permission to refer MH and Dr V.
J. Nair, Scientist Emeritus, for preparing the latin
diagnosis. Literature help of Dr A. G. Pandurangan,
Head, Plant Systematics & Evolutionary Science
at TBGT, is gratefully acknowledged. Th
e authors
sincerely thank Mr R. P. S. Katwal I. F. S., former
Chief Wildlife Warden, Chennai, and Dr V. K.
Melkani I. F. S., former Field Director and Con-
servator of Forests, Project Tiger, Tirunelveli, for
permission to carry out the fi eld research and to
collect specimens. Mr S. S. Mariappan is thanked
for the illustration.
REFERENCES
A
SHTON
P. S. 1981. — Syzygium, in D
ASSANAYAKE
M.
D. & F
OSBERG
F. R. (eds), A Revised Handbook to the
Flora of Ceylon, vol. 2. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co.,
New Delhi: 420-453.
C
HITHRA
V. 1987. — Syzygium, in H
ENRY
A. N., K
U
-
MARI
R. & C
HITHRA
V. (eds), Flora of Tamil Nadu
Series I: Analysis, vol. 2. Botanical Survey of India,
Coimbatore: 152-158.
D
UTHIE
J. F. 1878-1879. — Myrtaceae, in H
OOKER
J.
D. (ed.), Th
e Flora of British India, vol. 2. L. Reeve &
Co., London: 462-512.
H
ENRY
A. N., C
HANDRABOSE
M. & N
AIR
N. C. 1980. —
“Beelluta-kanneli” of Hortus Malabaricus: Syzygium
zeylanicum (Linn.) DC. and its varieties [Myrtaceae]
in South India, in
M
ANILAL
K. S. (ed.), Botanical
History of the Hortus Malabaricus. Oxford & IBM,
New Delhi: 159-162.
IUCN 2001. — IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria,
Version 3.1, prepared by the IUCN Species Survival
Commission. IUCN, Gland, Swizterland; Cambridge,
UK, 30 p.
118
ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2008 • 30 (1)
Viswanathan M. B. & Manikandan U.
K
OSTERMANS
A. J. G. H. 1981. — Eugenia, Syzygium
and Cleistocalyx (Myrtaceae) in Ceylon. A mono-
graphical revision. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan
Museum 34: 117-188.
M
ANILAL
K. S. & S
ABU
T. 1984. — Discovery of two
species of Syzygium Gaertn f., hitherto endemic to
Sri Lanka, from Silent Valley, India. Journal of the
Economic and Taxonomic Botany 5: 418-420.
M
OHANAN
M. & H
ENRY
A. N. 1987. — Syzygium para-
meswaranii (Myrtaceae) – A species from Southern
India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society
84: 408-409.
M
URUGAN
C., M
ANICKAM
V. S. & S
UNDARESAN
V.
2002. — Syzygium neesianum Arn. (Myrtaceae) – An
addition to the Indian Flora. Journal of the Bombay
Natural History Society 99: 553-555.
P
ARNELL
J. A. N., C
RAVEN
L. A. & B
IFFIN
E. 2007. — Mat-
ters of scale: dealing with one of the largest genera of
Angiosperms, in
H
ODKINSON
T. & P
ARNELL
J. (eds),
Reconstructing the Tree of Life, Taxonomy and Systemat-
ics of Species Rich Taxa. Th
e Systematics Association,
Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton: 251-273.
R
AVIKUMAR
K. 1999. — Novelties from high wavy
Mountains, Southern Western Ghats, Th
eni District,
Tamil Nadu, India. Rheedea 9: 55-75.
S
ASIDHARAN
N. & J
OMY
A. 1999. — A new species of
Syzygium Gaertn. (Myrtaceae) from Southern Western
Ghats, India. Rheedea 9: 155-158.
W
IGHT
R. 1843. — Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis,
vol. 2. J. B. Pharoah, Madras, plates 319-736.
W
IGHT
R. 1850. — Illustrations of Indian Botany, vol. 2.
P. R. Hunt, Madras, 456 pls.
Submitted on 13 July 2007;
accepted on 4 March 2008.
|