ANNALS OF PLANT SCIENCES ISSN: 2287-688X OPEN ACCESS www.annalsofplantsciences.com Original Research Article A Note on Lindernia viscosa (Hornem.) Merr. (Scrophulariaceae): A new distributional record for Telangana, India. Annamma P.S.1*., Venu P.1, Swamy J.1 and Y. V. Rao2 Survey of India, Deccan Regional Centre, Hyderabad, Telangana-500048, India. 2Department of Botany, College of Science & Technology, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh530003, India. 1Botanical Received: January 20, 2017; Accepted: January 30, 2017 Abstract: Lindernia viscosa (Scrophulariaceae) is reported for the first time from Telangana state. A detailed description with an illustration is deliberated here. Key words: Adilabad; Kawal Tiger Reserve; Lindernia; Scrophulariaceae; Telangana Introduction The genus Lindernia All. (sensu lato) comprises about 160 species distributed both in Old and New Worlds (1). Its members were shifted to various split genera such as, Lindernia All. (sensu stricto) Vandellia L., Bonnaya Link & Otto and Ilysanthes Rafin. This genus is represented by 31 taxa in India (8; 4; 5), 11 of them are reported in Andhra Pradesh (7) and 8 species in Telangana (6). While exploring Kawal Tiger Reserve (Telangana state: Adilabad district) for a floral inventory, one of the authors collected a specimen which after study was identified as Lindernia viscosa (Hornem.) Merr. This particular species has not been reported so far from the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh or from the separated Telangana state, hence reported as a new distributional record for Telangana state. Corolla 4-5 × c. 1 mm; tube c. 1.8 mm long; upper lip outer erect, notched or bifid; lower 3-lobed, spreading. Stamens 4, fertile, the 2 upper stamens on the corolla throat, usually included, the lower 2 with arched filaments having a rounded appendage towards the base, c. 2.2 mm long; anthers cohering in pairs, the cells divaricated, c. 0.2 × 0.2 mm. Ovary c. 1.1 × 0.8 mm; style c. 1.9 mm long, slender; stigma 2-lamellate. Capsules globose or subglobose, 2.8-3.2 × 1.6-2 mm, glabrous, as long as calyx lobes, many-seeded; seeds rectangular, 0.1–0.2 mm long, rugose, straw-colored. Lindernia viscosa (Hornem.) Merr., Sp. Blancoan. 14. 1918; Philcox, Kew Bull. 22: 38. 1968; Sivar. & P. Mathew, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 80: 132 & 137. 1983. Gratiola viscosa Hornem., Enum. Pl. Hort. Hafn. Suppl. 19. 1807. Vandellia hirsuta Buch. -Ham. ex Benth., Scroph. Ind. 36. 1835; Gamble, Fl. Madras 959. 1923; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 281. 1884. Lindernia hirsuta (Buch. -Ham. ex Benth.) Wettst. in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4 (3b): 79. 1891; S. K. Mukh, J. Indian Bot. Soc. 24(3): 131. 1945. Fig. 1. Annual, 8–12 cm high, branching from near the base, sparsely hirsute all over. Leaves opposite, elliptic or ovate, 1.5–3.5 × 1–2 cm, attenuate or broad at base, subentire or crenate or serrate-dentate and shortly ciliate along margins, obtuse at apex, membranous, sparsely hirsute on both surfaces, pinnately veined; lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs; upper leaves sessile and smaller than lower leaves; lower leaves petioled; petioles to 5 mm long. Racemes lax, axillary and terminal; pedicels 3-10 mm, slender; bracts lanceolate, 1.3-2.1 × c. 0.2 mm, acute at apex. Flowers pale blue or violet, c. 4 × 2 mm. Calyx deeply 5-lobed; lobes linear-lanceolate, 2.5-3.1 mm. *Corresponding Author: Annamma P.S., Botanica Survey of India, Deccan Regional Centre, Hyderguda, Hyderbad, Telangana-500048, India. E-mail: anna87shine@gmail.com http://dx.doi.org/10.21746/aps.2017.02.007 Page | 1572 Annamma et al., Annals of Plant Sciences 6.02 (2017): 1572-1573 Flowering & Fruiting: August - October. Habitat: Occasional in moist and shady places. Distribution: Widely distributed in Tropical Asia (Bangladesh, Combodia Indonesia, Laos, Malayasia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri lanka, Thailand and Vietnam); India: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and now in Telangana. Specimen examined: TYPE (K00800760): 302, Vandellia hirsuta, Upper Assam, Jenkins, Hooker 1841. India: Telangana, Kawal Tiger Reserve, 19°14'39.2'' N; 078°58'03.6'' E, 581 m, 15.9.2014, P.S. Annamma 4048 (BSID). Note: Lindernia viscosa is allied to L. multiflora and two species differ in presence or absence of hairy nature of the plant and capsule shape (3; 8). Both are distributed in Malaysia and India. Cook (1) ignored this difference with Vandellia multiflora (Roxb.) (L. viscosa specimens become glabrous in dried condition) and synonymised the latter under L. viscosa. But a critical study made on both these species revealed that L. multiflora (Roxb.) can’t be synonymised under L. viscosa. Acknowledgements The authors thank the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, and Officer In-charge, Deccan Regional Centre, BSI, Hyderabad for facilities and to the Telangana Forest Department, for permission and assistance in field. References 1. Cook CDK, Aquatic and Wetland Plants of India. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1996, 350-360. 2. Mabberley DJ, Mabberely’s Plant-Book: A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses, Third edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008. 3. Philcox DA, Revision of the Malesian species of Lindernia All (Scrophulariaceae). Kew Bull, 1968, 22: 1-72. 4. Prasad MG & Sunojkumar P, A new species of Lindernia (Linderniaceae) from India. Phytotaxa, 2014. 162: 57-60. 5. Prasad MG, Vimal KP, Shinoj K & Sunojkumar P, First record of Vandellia difusa (Linderniaceae) in Asia. Phytotaxa, 2014, 163: 54-57. 6. Pullaiah T, Flora of Telangana, the 29th State of India. Vol, 2, Regency Publications, New Delhi, 2015, 655661. 7. Pullaiah T & Ali Moulali D, Flora of Andhra Pradesh. Vol, 2, Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, 1997, 663-667. 8. Sivarajan VV & Mathew P, The Genus Lindernia All. (Scrophulariaceae) in India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, 1983, 80: 131-140. Cite this article as: Annamma P.S., Venu P., Swamy J. and Y. V. Rao. A Note on Lindernia viscosa (Hornem.) Merr. (Scrophulariaceae): A new distributional record for Telangana, India. Annals of Plant Sciences 6.02 (2017): 1572-1573. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21746/aps.2017.02.007 Source of support: Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, India. Conflict of interest: Nil http://dx.doi.org/10.21746/aps.2017.02.007 Page | 1573