Erigeron jaeschkei Vierhapper (1926: 12)

Chakraborty, Kasturi, Bhattacharjee, Bandana, Ghosh, Asok & Bhattacharjee, Avishek, 2024, Rediscovery of Erigeron jaeschkei (Asteraceae: Astereae: Conyzinae) and notes on its correct protologue and typification, Phytotaxa 674 (3), pp. 275-280 : 277

Erigeron jaeschkei Vierhapper (1926: 12) ( Figs. 1 , 2 ).

Type: — INDIA. Himachal Pradesh, ‘ Falori Pass’, ‘ 15000 ft. ’, Jaeschke s.n. (lectotype designated here: WU barcode WU0088921 , image!, Fig. 2A ; isolectotype WU barcode WU0088922 , image!, Fig. 2B ) .

Description: —Tap-rooted perennial herbs, 10–15 cm tall, rhizome woody. Stems branched, erect, 2.5–4 mm in diam., angled, pubescent. Leaves radical and cauline; radical ones rosulate, narrowly elliptic, gradually narrowed into a petiole, 5–6 × 0.5–1.5 cm, sparsely pubescent, margins distally upward-denticulate, apices round or obtuse; cauline ones 4–13, ovate to lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 1.8–4 × 0.2–1.2 cm, semi-amplexicaul, margins entire, apices obtuse. Capitulum showy, trimerous, radiate, 2–3 cm in diam. including rays; involucre hemispherical; phyllaries imbricate, 3-seriate, linear to lanceolate with long white eglandular hairs, slightly exceeding disc florets, with prominent resinous midrib, outer c. 4.3 × 1 mm, middle c. 4 × 0.7 mm, innermost c. 3.2 × 0.6 mm in diam.; ray florets numerous, unisexual, pistillate, strap-shaped, bi-lobed, 1- or 2-seriate, light purple, limb liguliform, 5–6 × 0.2–0.5 mm, style 3.7 mm long, style branch appendages bifid, unequal, lanceolate, obtuse at apex; filiform florets numerous with rudimentary lamina, unisexual, 2.8–3.3 mm long, tube 1.5–1.8 mm, style 2.8–3.3 mm long, style branch appendages bifid, lanceolate, obtuse at apex; disc florets numerous, bisexual, corolla yellow, limb narrowly funnel-shaped, 2.7–3 mm long, lobes ovate, 0.5–0.7 mm; stamens 2–2.2 mm, anther acute to acuminate at apex, filaments swan-necked, attached towards the base of corolla tube; pollen tricolporate, c. 20 μm in diam.; style 3 mm long, style appendages bifid, slightly deltoid or spathulate, subtruncate and densely papillate, anthers and stigma exserted from the corolla when mature. Cypsela obcompressed with true marginal ribs, 1.7–2 mm long, sparsely setuliferous, setulae adpressed, eglandular; carpopodium narrow annulus; pappus biseriate, pale white to brownish; outer setae short, scale-like, 0.2–0.5 mm; inner setae barbellate, 3–3.5 mm long.

Flowering: —(July–) August (–September).

Distribution: — India (Himachal Pradesh), Fig. 3 ; endemic.

Additional specimens examined: — INDIA. Himachal Pradesh: Lahaul and Spiti District, Spiti Valley , Gramphu , 22.08.2023, A. Bhattacharjee, B. Bhattacharjee & K. Chakraborty 98537 ( CAL) ; Chhatru , 22.08.2023, A. Bhattacharjee, B. Bhattacharjee & K. Chakraborty 98538 ( CAL) .

Notes: — Rao et al. (1988: 37) erroneously mentioned the species occurrence in Jammu & Kashmir instead of Himachal Pradesh. Hajra (1995: 127) treated E. jaeschkei , along with three other species of Erigeron , under ‘excluded species’ with a note: “The following species have also been mentioned from Jammu & Kashmir region (R.R. Rao et al. 1987), but their identification are doubtful”. Karthikeyan et al. (2020: 752) repeated the same mistake as they included Jammu & Kashmir in the distribution of E. jaeschkei by following the published literature and online databases.

Erigeron jaeschkei is a species belonging to E. sect. Erigeron . The species is morphologically close to E. himalajensis but differs from the latter in having long-petiolate basal leaves with a significantly wider, broadly elliptical or obovate lamina, wider cauline leaves and a non-glandular indument of the vegetative organs (vs. shortly petioled basal leaves with a narrower, linear to linear-lanceolate lamina, narrower cauline leaves, and a glandular indument of the vegetative organs). Erigeron jaeschkei also has morphological similarity with E. kumaunensis , from which it differs in having a typically branched stem, cauline leaves with entire leaf margins, smaller ligules and a greater number of filiform florets in the capitulum (vs. less branching stem, remotely toothed cauline leaves, longer ligules and fewer filiform florets in E. kumaunensis ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Erigeron jaeschkei. A. Habit; B. Portion of a twig; C. Capitulum (front view); D. Capitulum (back view); E. Phyllaries; F. Ray floret; G. Ray floret (cypsela removed); H. Style of a ray floret; I. Cypsela of a ray floret; J. Filiform floret; K. Filiform floret (cypsela removed); L. Style of a disc floret; M. Cypsela of a filiform floret; N. Disc floret; O. Disc floret split open (cypsela removed); P. Stamens of a disc floret; Q. Style of a disc floret; R. Cypsela of a disc floret. From A. Bhattacharjee, B. Bhattacharjee & K. Chakraborty 98537 (CAL).

FIGURE 2. Erigeron jaeschkei. A. Lectotype (WU0088921); B. Isolectotype (WU0088922). © University of Vienna Herbarium.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Erigeron jaeschkei.