Justicia gingiana Sebastine & Ramam., 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 : 277-279

Justicia gingiana Sebastine & Ramam., Bull. Bot. Surv. India 6:99.1964. Type: INDIA, Tamil Nadu, South Arcot district, GingeeReserveforest , 22.03.1961, K.M. Sebastine & K. Ramamurthy 12360 (holo CAL [ CAL0000020256 !]; iso MH [ MH00000838 !, MH00000839 !, MH00000840 !, MH00000841 !]). Fig. 3

Perennial shrubs up to 2.5 m tall. Stems erect, sub-tetragonal, branched; branches stout, diffuse, greenish to pale-brown, glabrous; internode 1–4 cm long. Leaves petiolate; laminae widely elliptic to lanceolate, 14–20 × 3–6 cm, base narrowly cuneate, margins entire, apex acuminate, chartaceous, glabrous or puberulous; veins prominent, secondary veins 7–11 pairs, venation simple craspedodromous; petioles 0.7–2 cm long, puberulous. Inflorescence terminal or axillary spike, up to 8 cm long, 4–10 flowered;pedunclesshort,1.5–3cmlong,puberulous. Flowers sessile, two per floral node, 1.3–1.5 × 1–1.25 cm; bracts foliaceous, elliptic, 1.5–2 × 0.7–1.25 cm, margin entire, apex narrowly acute, obscurely 3–5-nerved, greenish, puberulous; bracteoles elliptic to oblanceolate, c. 1 × 0.25 cm, margins entire, apex acute, whitish green, puberulous. Calyx deeply 5-lobed, c. 4 × 2.5 mm at anthesis, accrescent, whitish green, sparsely pubescent outside; lobes equal, lanceolate to ovate, margin entire, apex acute. Corolla whitish without striations on lips, pubescent outside, glabrous inside except in the throat; tube cylindrical, c. 6 × 3 mm, enlarged in throat; upper lip erect, oblong, c. 8 × 4 mm, apex notched, hooded; lower lip obovate, 3-lobed, c. 7 × 6 mm; lobes equal, oblong, middle lobe broad, lateral lobes narrow and recurved, apex obtuse to rounded. Stamens exserted; filaments c. 6 mm long, declinate, white, basally hirsute; anther thecae superposed, equal, elliptic, c. 1 mm long, pale green, glabrous; appendage white, c. 4 mm long, apex rounded. Ovary c. 1.3 × 1 mm, ovate, yellowish green, glabrous or hirsute at apex; style filiform, c. 6 mm long, whitish, hirsute in lower half; stigma minutely bifid. Capsule clavate, c. 1.5 × 0.6 cm, apex acute, brownish, glabrous; base sterile, 7 mm long, flattened. Seeds 4, compressed, sub-orbicular, c. 4 × 3 mm, glabrous; testa rugose.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from December to May; fruiting from May to June.

Habitat: Found in dry and moist evergreen forests between 120 and 914 m. It is also cultivated for medicinal use in gardens and nurseries.

Distribution: Endemic to South India.

Specimens examined: INDIA, Karnataka, Bangalore district , FRLHT garden, 30.03.2005, Indira Balachandran, A.B. Remasree, & Geetha S. Pillai 02322 ( CMPR); Ibid. , 22.04.2005, K . Ravikumar 71764 ( CAL) . Kerala, Malappuram district, Kottakkal, Herb Garden , 22.03.2015, K . M . Prabhukumar 7878 ( CMPR); Ibid., 07.05.2013, Biju John 7043 ( CMPR); Ibid. , 29.06.2016, P . Soumya, Prabhukumar & P . Sunojkumar 157527 ( CALI); Thiruvananthapuram district, Kollayil , 17.11.1990, P . Deepthi Das 26424 ( TBGT); Palode , JNTBGRI, 12.12.2017, P . Soumya & P . Sunojkumar 138514 ( CALI); Wayanad district , MSSRF garden, 19.02.2003, Satheesh George & K . V . Thushar 1228 ( CMPR) . Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari district, Beyond Sengumal estate, Panagudi , 09.02.1972, B . D. Sharma 40062 ( MH); South Arcot district , Gingee R . F ., 22.03.1961, K . M . Sebastine & K . Ramamurthy 12360 ( CAL); Ibid. , 26.05.1962, K . M . Sebastine & K . Ramamurthy 17592 ( MH); Tirunelveli district, Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve , Thirukurungudi range, Dohnavur estate, 18.02.2014, Ravikumar & Umesh Kumar Tiwari 119778 ( FRLH) .

Conservation status: Based on herbarium reference, occurrence of this species has been noticed only in nine different locations in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Four of these locations are in gardens. Among the wild populations, two are in protected areas ( Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and Gingee Reserve Forest ) and three on the outskirts of forests ( Kollayil , Panagudi and South Travancore hill). Based on natural populations, the estimated AOO is limited, measuring only 16 km 2. Given its restricted AOO, this species falls under the category Endangered [EN B2 ab (iii,iv,v)] .

Notes: Justicia beddomei closely resembles and is frequently mistaken for the widespread species J. adhatoda . They share the same habit and floral characters.However, J.beddomei can be distinguished from J. adhatoda by its flowers measuring less than 1.5 cm in length (vs. 2–3 cm long), ovate to lanceolate bract(vs.obovate to oblanceolate or elliptic to oblong), absence of striations on the lower lip (vs. presence of purple striations) and glabrous ovary (vs. hirsute at apex or throughout). Sebastine and Ramamurthy (1965) described a new species Justicia gingiana Sebastine & Ramam. from the Gingee Reserve Forest of Tamil Nadu and this was subsequently merged with J. beddomei by Ellis (1978). Prabhukumar et al. (2018) mentioned that the discovery of J. gingiana in the Gingee forest marked the first collection of J. beddomei since the type collection. The present study aligns with the findings.

Justicia betonica L., Sp. 1: Pl. 15. 1753; Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 129. 1820; T.Anderson, J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 9: 510. 1867; C.B.Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 525. 1885; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 1078. 1921; L.H.Cramer, Revis. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 12: 110–111. 1998; V.A.W.Graham, Kew Bull. 43: 586. 1988. Adhatoda betonica (L.) Nees in Wall ., Pl. Asiat. Rar. 3: 103. 1832.. Ecbolium betonica (L.) Kuntze Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 487. 1891. Lectotype (designated by Immelman, 1986): CEYLON (Sri Lanka), s.d., Paul Hermann s.n. (BM [BM000621793 digital image!]).

Justicia ramosissima Roxb. ex Hornem., Suppl. Hort. Bot.Hafn. :112. 1819. Lectotype (designated by Turner, 2021): INDIA, Hortus Botanicus Calcuttensis, N. Wallich s.n. (C [ C10004941 digital image!]).

Justicia ramosissima Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 130. 1820 nom. illeg., non Roxb. ex Hornem. 1819; Adhatoda ramosissima Nees in Wall ., Pl. Asiat. Rar. 3: 103. 1832. Justicia betonica L. var. ramosissima (Nees) C.B.Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 525. 1885; Karthik. et al., Fl. Pl. India Dicotyledons 25. 2009. Lectotype (designated by Turner, 2021): Icones Roxburghianae 1930 (K).

Figures

Fig. 3. Distribution of Justicia beddomei (C.B.Clarke) Bennet in Peninsular India. Drawn using R (R Core Team,2023).