taxonID	type	description	language	source
F524879DFFDBFF84FF0EFCA2FB18FDB5.taxon	description	Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from October to January and fruiting from November to February. Habitat: This species usually grows on grasslands with sandy or gravelly soils, at elevations ranging from 250 to 390 m. Distribution: Endemic to India. A critical study of the description provided in the state and regional Floras of India, and examination of specimens housed at the national and international herbaria (digital images) show that this species is endemic to India with an almost country-wide distribution, except for the northeastern region. The species is distributed in the following states: West Bengal (Nees von Esenbeck, 1832; Prain, 1903), Punjab (Nair, 1978), Rajasthan (Pandey & Singh, 1991), Odisha (Saxena & Brahmam, 1995), Uttar Pradesh (Sharma & Dhakre, 1995), Andhra Pradesh (Pullaiah & Moulali, 1997), Madhya Pradesh (Khanna et al., 1997), Bihar (Singh et al., 2001), Maharashtra (Moorthy, 2001), Chhattisgarh (Khanna et al., 2005), Jharkhand (Paria & Chattopadhyay, 2005) and Telangana (Pullaiah, 2015). During the present study, a specimen of L. hamiltoniana was collected from Dahod and Kutch districts in Gujarat. The occurrence of this species has never been reported from the state until now, thus the present collection forms an addition to the flora of Gujarat state. However, a critical scrutiny of the description provided in the ‘ Flora of Gujarat State’ by Shah (1978) shows that this species was erroneously identified and documented as L. cristata. Furthermore, we have come across a specimen of this species collected from Mysore (MH [MH 00110039]), which forms a new record of distribution of this species to the flora of Karnataka. However, an extensive field exploration is required to confirm its present distribution in Karnataka. Specimens examined: INDIA. Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor district, Kambakam hills, 07.05.1913, s. coll., 8967 (MH); East Godavari district, Donkarayi near Mangampadu, 325 m, 31.12.1967, G. V. Subba Rao 29679 (MH); Nellore district, Rudrakota, 373 m, 18.11.1997, B. R. P. Rao & S. Swetha 20178 (SKU); Rudrakota to Nallamalais, 13.02.2004, S. K. Nazeeruddin 27606 (SKU); Visakhapatnam district, Chinagora Reserve Forest, 12.12.1923, K. C. Jacob 17194 (MH). Chhattisgarh, Chota Nagpur, 10.10.1873, C. B. Clarke 21017 (US [US 02863703 digital image]); C. B. Clarke 21022 (BM [BM 013860250 digitalimage]); Ibid., 04.11.1883, C. B. Clarke 34079 (BM [BM 013860248 digital image]); south bank of Konar river, 04.11.1951, F. H. W. Kerr 1293 (BM [BM 013860246 digital image]); Ibid., 11.11.1951, F. H. W. Kerr 2146 (BM [BM 013860247 digital image]). Gujarat, Dahod district, Rampura Grassland, N 22 ° 47 ’ 34.4148 ’’, E 74 ° 10 ’ 1.6248 ’’, 18.12.2021, Sujitkumar & Rohitkumar 12828 (Madras Christian College Herbarium, Chennai); Dahod district, Rampura Grassland, N 22 ° 48 ’ 12.7116 ’’, E 74 ° 10 ’ 9.482 ’’, 25.03.2023, A. F. J. King & Sujitkumar 12991 (Madras Christian College Herbarium, Chennai); Lakhpat, Near Kateshwa Buddha caves, N 23 ° 46 ’ 25.3992 ’’, E 68 ° 52 ’ 36.606 ’’, 23.03.2023, A. F. J. King & Rohitkumar 12987 (Madras Christian College Herbarium, Chennai); Bhachau, Sarasla, N 23 ° 27 ’ 14.8644 ’’, E 70 ° 31 ’ 24.3948 ’’, 24.03.2023, A. F. J. King & Sujitkumar 12988 (Madras Christian College Herbarium, Chennai). Karnataka, Mysore, 1857, s. coll. s. n. (MH). Madhya Pradesh, Barwani district, West of Choral to Balwadi road, 21.10.1962, A. S. Rao 83971 (BSI); Jabalpur district, Jabalpur, 1000 ft, 24.12.1875, O. Kuntze 7321 (NY [NYBG 04204668 digital image]); Narsinghpur district, Narsinghpur, 1000 ft, 24.12.1875, O. Kuntze 740 (NY [NYBG 04204661, NYBG 04204655 digital images]). Maharashtra, Akola district, Chikhalwal, 20.02.1978, S. Y. Kamble 152700 (BSI); Patur to Akola, 19.02.1978, S. Y. Kamble 152663 A (BSI); Buldhana district, Gaumal forests, 15.12.1982, P. G. Diwakar 163066 (BSI); Chandrapur district, Mohrale Range, North Chanda Forest, 12.12.1957, Sethi & Negi Raizada 25745 (L [L 2838013 digital image]); Mohrale Range to Chandrapur district, 21.10.1972, B. M. Wadhwa 130282 (BSI); Vasalher nele, 26.10.1972, B. M. Wadhwa 127352 (BSI); Nanded district, Rampur to Nagz, 14.10.1966, R. D. Pataskar 110073 (BSI). Odisha, Ganjam district, Bindogorha, 1000 ft, March 1884, J. S. Gamble 14073 (MH). Punjab, s. loc., s. die, J. R. Drummond 26446 (E [E 01024275 digital image]). Rajasthan, Kota district, Kota to Darah, 26.10.1957, Jain 28793 (BSI). Telangana, Khammam district, Edurallapalli forest, ± 250 m, 17.11.1993, R. Chandrasekaran 98757 (BSID [BSID 0005357 digital image], MH); Nizamabad district, Ibrahimpet block, 27.09.1987, T. Pullaiah & B. R. P. Rao 6127 (SKU); Gandhari Reserve forest, 09.10.1988, B. R. P. Rao & C. P. Raju 7233 (SKU); Mamidipally Reserve forest, 05.11.1989, B. R. P. Rao & S. P. Balu 9605 (SKU). Uttar Pradesh, Jalaun district, Kalpi block near Kalpi, 05.02.1950, W. W. Sen (NY [NYBG 04204634 digital image]). Conservation status: The species is provisionally assessed here as ‘ Least Concern’ [LC] as per the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria version 15.1 (IUCN, 2022).	en	A. F. J., King, S. R., Prajapati, R. M., Patel, G., Gnanasekaran, I., Darbyshire, Arisdason, W. (2023): Taxonomy and lectotypification of Lepidagathis hamiltoniana (Acanthaceae: Barlerieae), an endemic species of India. Rheedea 33 (2): 74-82, DOI: 10.22244/rheedea.2023.33.02.04, URL: https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2023.33.02.04
