Lepidagathis shrirangii (Acanthaceae) a new species from Konkan region of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Lepidagathis shrirangii, a new species of Lepidagathis is described and illustrated from Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, India. The new species is closely allied with L. lutea, which was also described from Konkan region of Maharashtra. Coloured photographs, notes on the relationship and the key to the species with two seeds and five sepals is provided to facilitate the identification.

Two new species of Lepidagathis Willd. (Acanthaceae: Barlerieae) from India

“…This is probably owing to their unique geological and ecological specializations, soil availability, water availability and environmental extremes (Kulkarni et al, 2022). In the last five years, a total of six new species have been described from these lateritic plateaus (Natekar et al, 2019;Biju et al, 2020;Borude et al, 2020;Chandore et al, 2020;More et al, 2022More et al, , 2023, which corroborates the need to designate the lateritic plateaus (rocky outcrops) as one of the major centres of species diversity in India. Besides these new species, the detailed taxonomy of two low-elevation lateritic plateau species that are endemic to Kerala, L. ananthapuramensis V.S.A.Kumar, P.Biju, Sindhu Arya, Josekutty & Augustine and L. keralensis Madhus.…”

Two new heterotypic synonyms in Lepidagathis Willd. (Acanthaceae: Barlerieae) from India

“…Intensive field exploration has been carried out across India during 2021-2023, especially in type localities to collect Lepidagathis species based on data taken from specimens housed in various herbaria and the published literature (Nees von Esenbeck, 1832, 1841, 1847Dalzell, 1850Dalzell, , 1851Anderson, 1867;Clarke, 1885;Cooke, 1905;Gamble, 1924) including the protologues of recently described species (Madhusoodanan & Singh, 1992;Remadevi & Binojkumar, 2008;Jithin & Jose, 2017;Natekar et al, 2019;Biju et al, 2020;Borude et al, 2020;Chandore et al, 2020;Prasad & Reddy, 2020;Dhatchanamoorthy et al, 2022;More et al, 2022More et al, , 2023Brahmadande & Nandikar, 2023;Gnanasekaran et al, 2023b). Detailed descriptions documenting the complete range of morphological variation for all species under consideration (L. decumbens Dhatchan.…”

Lepidagathis mahakassapae sp. nov. (Acanthaceae: Barlerieae) from the high elevated Lateritic Plateau of northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India

“…(Acanthaceae: Barlerieae) comprises about 142 species that are distributed across the tropical and subtropical regions of the world (POWO 2019). In the last two decades alone, seven new species of Lepidagathis have been described from India (Ramadevi and Binojkumar 2008, Jithin and Jose 2017, Natekar et al 2019, Biju et al 2020, Borude et al 2020, Chandore et al 2020, Kothareddy and Reddy 2020). Therefore, the genus is now represented by 29 species and eight varieties in India, of which 19 species and two varieties are endemic (modified after Singh et al 2015).…”