Panax sokpayensis, a new species from Sikkim Himalaya, India is described. The species was found growing in the submontane zone of West Sikkim in the habitats located between 1,700 m and 2,300 m altitudes. The localities, where the species grows, are forested habitats
dominated by a Quercus-Acer vegetation in association with Viburnum erubescens, Daphne cannabina, Urtica parviflora, Gerardiana heterophylla, and several species of ferns. Morphological characters of this species are compared with other known species
of Panax in Himalaya. The new species is distinct from its allies in having a robust habit, a large horizontal creeping rhizome with a single small globose tuber, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic leaflets, long leafy bracts, and small black and red fruits. Panax sokpayensis
is separated from the P. pseudoginseng and other species complexes in the genus. The difference between P. sokpayensis and its related Himalayan taxa are discussed. We also show that P. pseudoginseng was wrongly reported from the Indian Himalaya.
Meiotic studies were carried out in nine different accessions of T. undulata collected from three districts of Rajasthan, India. Data collected on chromosome associations, chiasma frequency and their distribution pattern concluded that the somatic chromosome number of T. undulata is 2n = 2x = 36 which is at variance with published literature. The high frequency of 18:18 chromosome distribution at anaphase I and an overwhelming percentage of stainable pollens observed are indicative of overall genomic stability as supported by complete absence of accessory chromosomes (B) and supernumerary nucleoli. Numerical alteration of chromosomes might have played an important role in origin and adaptation of T. undulata to the adverse climate conditions of Indian desert.
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