Rostellularia vahlii Nees var. rupicola J.L.Ellis, Bull. Bot. Surv.

P., Soumya, Y. F., Deng, S. S., Dash & Sunojkumar, P., 2023, A taxonomic revision of the genus JUStICIa (Acanthaceae) in Peninsular India, Rheedea 33 (4), pp. 270-331 : 322-324

Rostellularia vahlii Nees var. rupicola J.L.Ellis, Bull. Bot. Surv. India 11: 435. 1969. Justicia vahlii var. rupicola (J.L.Ellis) Pull., Moulali & Sandhyar., Fl. Andhra Pradesh 4: 1404. 2018, syn. nov. Type: INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Kurnool district , Nallamalais , Srisailam, 12.07.1963, Ellis 16842 (holo: CAL [ CAL0000020257 !]). FigS. 35 & 36

Annual herbs, up to 90 cm tall. Stems erect or decumbent, stout with woody rootstock, branched; branches slender, lineolate, scabrous, greenish, denselypubescent;internodes2.5–14cmlong.Leaves sub-sessile to petiolate; laminae linear to narrowly elliptic, 3–10 × 0.5–1 cm, base narrowly cuneate, margin entire or distantly crenate with minute hairs, apex acute, sub-coriaceous, scabrous, puberulous with dense hairs on ribs; mid rib prominent, secondary veins inconspicuous, 3–5 pairs; petioles 5–12 mm long, scabrous. Inflorescence terminal or axillary spike, up to 17 cm long, many-flowered; peduncles 1.5–6 cm long, densely pubescent. Flowers sessile, two per inflorescence node, 9–11 × 5–6 mm; bracts ovate, 2.5–3.7 × 1.3–1.7 mm, apex acute to sub-acuminate, margins scarious and ciliate; bracteoles similar to bracts but narrower, 2.5–3 × c. 1 mm. Calyx deeply 4-lobed, 2.7–4.8 × 1.7–2.25 mm at anthesis, accrescent, greenish; lobes lanceolate, slightly unequal, apex acute, margins scarious, ciliate. Corolla purplish white with dark purple striations on lower lip, densely pubescent outside and glabrous inside except in the throat; tube white, cylindrical, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, slightly enlarged in throat; upper lip erect, triangular, 5–6 × 2.5–3 mm, apex emarginate; lower lip sub-orbicular, 4–5.5 × 4–5 mm, 3-lobed at apex; lobes imbricate, apex rounded. Stamens exserted; filaments 2.5–3 mm long, declinate, white, glabrous; anther thecae superposed, equal, 0.5–1.2 mm long, upper theca muticous and abaxially bearded, lower theca glabrous; appendage c. 0.6 mm long, apex acute, white. Ovary fusiform, 1.4 × 0.5 mm, pale green, pubescent at apex; style slender, whitish, 5.5–7 mm long, hirsute in lower half; stigma slightly 2-lobed; necteriferous disc, c. 0.3 mm high, yellowish green. Capsule clavate, 6–7 × 2–2.2 mm, apex acute, pale brown, densely pubescent throughout. Seeds 4, compressed, reniform to ovate, c. 2 × 1.6 mm, brown or yellowish-brown; testa prominently tuberculate.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from August to December, fruiting in January.

Habitat: In open dry habitats of deciduous forests, on plains and hill slopes at elevations between 350 and 1050 m.

Distribution: Bangladesh, India, Pakisthan and Sri Lanka

Specimens examined: INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor district, Kailasakona hill, 08.01.1976, G. V. Subba Rao 46990; Ibid., s.d., Ranga Charyulu 1733 (MH); East Godavari district, Amalapuram, 06.09.1988, K. Ravikuamr & R. Ganesan 88813 (MH); Mantur, 28.11.1962, C.A. Barber s.n. (CAL); Palagedda, 11.10.1972, G. V. Subba Rao 42535 (MH); Rampa, chodavaram to Maredumili, 25.10.1994, M. Mohanan 102649 (MH); Rampa, Devara konda, 12.10.1920, V. Narayanaswami 669; Rampa, Kota, 09.10.1920, V. Narayanaswami 547; Rampa hills, 25.10.1920, V. Narayanaswami 45 (CAL); Sukumari hills, February 1885, J.S. Gamble 15981 (CAL, MH); Guntur district, Bairani, Diguvametta beat, 09.12.1967, K.N. Subramanian 2930 (FRC); Koppukonda, 24.12.1967, G.V.SubbaRao 29638(MH);Lankamala,Yerabetukonta, 15.11.1965, K.N. Subramanian 2410 (FRC); Kurnool district, Ahobilam, 29.08.1965, J.L. Ellis 25545; Chelama, 07.12.1963, J.L. Ellis 17944 (MH); Srisailam- Nallamalais, 12.07.1963, J.L. Ellis 16842 (CAL); Ibid., 12.07.1963, J.L. Ellis 16825; Ibid., 05.12.1969, J.L. Ellis 32698; Mahanandi, 23.08.1972, J.L. Ellis 42330 (MH); Nellore district, Balayapalle, 10.11.1962, J.L. Ellis 14993; Kakula Konda, 23.09.1937, K.C. Jacob 83335 (MH); Prakasam district, Diguvametta, 17.11.1969, J.L. Ellis 32452 (MH); Visakhapatnam district, Anjoda- Genji Gadda, 12.03.1965, G. V. Subba Rao 22608 (MH); Cherukonda, 28.08.1966, G. V. Subba Rao 28176; Cherukonda peak, 26.10.1972, G. V. Subba Rao 42737 (MH); Golugonda, 08.03.1915, K.M. Sebastine 11759; Pithapuram Reserve forest, 09.12.1923, K.C. Jacob 17110(MH);Warangaldistrict,PukhalR.F., 28.11.1960, K.M. Sebastine 11654 (MH). Karnataka, Bagalkot district, Badami, 00.09.1910, A. Meeblod 11263 (CAL); Ibid., 07.10.2017, P. Soumya, Shinoj & P. Sunojkumar 138546 (CALI); Ibid., 24.08.2018, P. Soumya, Dilsha & P. Sunojkumar 157530 (CALI). Kerala, Kollam district, Punalur forest, Chozhiyakode, 29.02.1982, N. Venkatasubramanian 8390 (FRC); Maharastra, Puna district, Parvathi hills, 22.07.1960, M.Y. Ansari 64365. Tamil Nadu, Tiruvannamalai district, Tippukadu R.F., 30.06.1963, K. Ramamurthy 16622 (MH). Telangana, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Bhadrachalam forest, 27.08.1995, R. Chandrasekaran 104314; Parnasala forest, 28.09.1994, R. Chandrasekhara 102466 (MH); Hyderabad district, Secunderabad, Nagarjuna nagar, 13.12.1959, K.M. Sebastine 9742 (MH); Karimnagar district, Eklaspur, 30.12.1964, G. V. Subba Rao 22494 (MH). Peninsula Indiae Orientalis, Herb. Wight. Propr., 04.1837, Naggur hills, 2662 (CAL); Herb. Wight. Propr., 2257 (CAL).

Conservation status: The species is provisionally assessed here as of Least Concern (LC) as per the IUCN (2022) guidelines.

Notes: The name Justicia vahlii Roth was used for this taxon for a long time. However, it is a later homonym of J. vahlii F. Dietr, 1818 , and therefore illegitimate under Art. 53.1 of the ICN ( Turland et al., 2018). Mabberley et al. (2020) took J. vahliana , as a replacement name for the illegitimate J. vahlii and proposed a new combination Rostellularia vahliana (Schult.) Mabb. , as he treated the genus Rostellularia as distinct. Although he also designated one of Rottler’s duplicates at herbarium C (C10005022) as lectotype, lectotypification had already been carried out by Deng (2020) who designated C10005023.

In the Flora of West Pakistan, Stewart (1972) treated Justicia vahlii Roth as a new synonym of J. peploides with a reference to the Flora of Irania ( Rechinger, 1966). Later in the Flora of Pan Himalaya, Deng (2020) treated J. vahlii as a new synonym of J. quingueangularis . Both treatments are not accepted here, as our field studies showed J. vahliana to be a distinct species though they may look similar in herbarium specimens. Justicia vahliana can easily be distinguished from J. quingueangularis by its stout stem with woody rootstock (vs. without woody rootstock), less congested spike (vs. dense spike), broad less scarious bracts and bracteoles (vs. narrow more scarious bract and bracteoles), four-lobed calyx (five-lobed calyx with fifth lobe much reduced), stamens with bearded upper thecae (vs. glabrous upper theca), clavate capsule with tuberculate seeds (vs. oblong capsule with rugulose seeds). Results of molecular phylogenetic studies strongly support the identity of J. vahliana as a separate entity (in prep.).

At the same time, J. vahliana , grows in different environmental or altitudinal habitat, showing morphological variation in its stem size, branching pattern, leave shape and inflorescence length. This variation sometimes creates confusion among researchers leading to consider it as different variety. One such ecological variant is Rostellularia vahlii var. rupicola , described by Ellis (1969) based on collections from Nallamalais in the Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. It was differentiated from Rostellularia vahlii var. vahlii by the decumbent stem radiating from a stout, woody rootstock, sessile linear leaves, and sparse and large cystoliths on the leaves. We collected this taxon from its type locality and found that the differentiating characters mentioned by the author are not stable and overlaps with the characters shown by J. vahliana . So, we treat Rostellularia vahlii var. rupicola , as a new synonym of J. vahliana .

Figures

Fig. 35. Justicia vahliana Schult.:a. Habit;b. Inflorescence;c. Flower– adaxial view;d. Flower–side view;e. Bract;f. Bracteoles–adaxial side; g. Calyx;h. Calyx–opened;i. Upper lip; j. Lower lip; k. Stamens; l. Gynoecium with nectariferous disc; m. Capsule; n. Seed (from P. Soumya & P. Sunojkumar 138546;photos by P. Soumya).

Fig. 36. Distribution of Justicia vahliana Schult.in Peninsular India.Drawn using R (R Core Team,2023).