Impatiens courtallensis (Balsaminaceae), a new species of Impatiens from Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Impatiens courtallensis, a new species from Tamil Nadu, India is newly described and illustrated. This species is characterized by having typical opposite deccusate leaves, minute flower (≤4mm across), milky white, boat shaped lower sepal with outwardly curved tip, minute spur, seeds with prominent caruncle and typical squarish pollengrains. This combination of characters makes determining the relationships of I. courtallensis difficult.

Three new species of Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) from southern Western Ghats, Kerala

“…Extensive field surveys were conducted in Kerala during the period 2019-2021. Analysis of relevant literature (Hooker and Thomson 1860;Hooker 1875Hooker , 1904Hooker -1906Hooker , 1908aHooker , b, 1910Hooker , 1911Dessai and Janarthanam 2011;Bhaskar 2012;Hareesh et al 2015;Ramasubbu et al 2015Ramasubbu et al , 2017Bhaskar and Sringeswara 2017;Mani et al 2018) and careful examination of preserved specimens preserved at various herbariums (TBGT, KFRI, MH, USF, K, CALI, and CMPR) (acronyms according to Thiers (2021) [continuously updated]) were undertaken to complete the study. Furthermore, distribution map was created using QGIS Version 3.14.…”

Notes on the extended distribution of Impatiens megamalayana, a recently described balsam in Western Ghats, India

“…Nayar et al (2014) enumerated 106 taxa of Impatiens from the Western Ghats of which 97 are exclusive endemics. More than 30 species have been discovered from various parts of the Western Ghats during the last 10 years (Kumar et al 2011;Dessai & Janarthanam 2011;Narayanan et al 2011Narayanan et al , 2012aNarayanan et al ,b, 2013Hareesh et al 2015a;Prabhukumar et al 2015aPrabhukumar et al ,b, 2016Prabhukumar et al , 2017Ramasubbu et al 2015aRamasubbu et al ,b, 2017Ramasubbu et al , 2020aChhabra et al 2016;Bhaskar & Sringeswar 2017;Manudev et al 2017;Mani & Thomas 2017;Mani et al 2018Mani et al , 2020Arigela et al 2019;Salish et al 2019;Subbiah & Vellingiri 2019;Vishnu et al 2020Vishnu et al & 2021Arya et al 2021). Impatiens species are usually seen in open, wet grasslands and rocky hill slopes at higher elevations and are highly sensitive to micro-climatic conditions.…”

How distinct is Impatiens hookeriana Arnott from I. grandis Heyne (Balsaminaceae)?

“…Impatiens shows restricted distribution in five hotspots viz., Southeast Asia and southwestern China, eastern to central Himalayas, southern India, tropical Africa and Madagascar (Grey-Wilson, 1980). From the establishment of the genus to till now several botanical researchers made extensive contributions on collection, identification and documentation along with new species in India (Bhaskar 1975, Vivekananthan et al 1997, Swaminathan et al 2001, Pusalkar & Singh 2010, Dessai & Janarthanam 2011, Narayanan et al 2011, 2012, Bhaskar 2012, Ramasubbu et al 2015a,b, Bhaskar & Sringeshwara 2017, Mani & Thomas 2017, Ramasubbu et al 2017, Mani et al 2018, Salish et al 2019. From their distribution pattern, it seems probable that the scapigerous balsams of India originated from the North of Palghat gap (Kerala) and caulescent pedunculate species from the southern India (Barnes 1939, Bhaskar 2012.…”