Syzygium hookeri M.V.Ramana, Chorghe & Venu, 2014

Ramana, M. Venkat, Chorghe, A. & Venu, P., 2014, Two new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from Saddle Peak National Park, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, Blumea 59 (1), pp. 42-48 : 42-45

1. Syzygium hookeri M.V.Ramana, Chorghe & Venu , sp. nov. — Fig. 1 , 2

Type. M. V. Ramana 686 (holo CAL; iso BSID, PBL) , India, Andaman Islands , Saddle Peak National Park, Kalipur, N13°9'14.5" E93°00'54.8", alt. 586 m, 12 Feb. 2012 .

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Etymology. This new species is named in honour of Sir J.D. Hooker for his great contribution to the Flora of British India.

Shrub, 2–3 m high, 15–20 cm dbh. Branches subcylindrical, greyish when young, turning blackish when old, often laden with crustose lichens. Leaves simple, coriaceous, opposite subdecussate, elliptic-lanceolate, 3.5–5.5 by 1.5–3 cm, acutely-narrowed at base, entire to slightly revolute at margins, acute to acuminate at apex, lamina dark green above, pale beneath, blackish above, brownish beneath when dried, midrib impressed, sulcate above, raised beneath, secondary nerves 15–20 pairs, sunken, faintly visible beneath, ascending, joining close to margin forming a loop. Petioles 5–10 mm long. Reproductive seasonal growth unit usually completely leafless or with a pair of leaves at the base. Inflorescences on leafless twigs or terminal on short leafy lateral twigs, few-flowered and then simple or compound cymes, main axis 3–6 cm long; bracts and bracteoles minute, triangular, deciduous. Flowers not calyptrate, 1.5 by 2 cm long, showy, bright pinkish. Hypanthium cup-shaped, 5.6 by 6 mm, pinkish to pale yellow, not gland dotted, stipitate, the stipe 3.2 mm long. Sepals 4, nearly equal, very distant, semi circular, lacerate to entire, auriculate at base, 2.9 by 4.2 mm long, deciduous during anthesis. Petals 4, cohering into a pseudocalyptra, 4.4 by 3.5 mm, deciduous, inner 3 hooded, upper one hemispherical. Staminal disc unmodified. Stamens all fertile, numerous, bright pinkish, spreading, arising in three whorls, in 5–6 loosely aggregated bundles; filaments broad at base, narrowed towards tip, thick, 10–16 mm long, un- equal, glabrous; anther sacs parallel; anthers oblong dorsifixed, 0.8 by 0.7 mm, dehiscing by longitudinal slits, connective not glandular. Style 20 mm long at anthesis, persistent; stigma subulate. Placentation axile-median, the placenta uneven, one side peg like protruding into locule, the other side protruding. Ovules 6 per locule, spreading to ascending. Fruits not seen.

Distribution — India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, North Andaman Islands, Saddle Peak National Park).

Habitat & Ecology — Rocky bed slopes of mountain peaks.

Phenology — Flowering: February – March.

Additional specimen examined. INDIA, North Andaman Islands , Saddle Peak National Park , Kalipur, M. V. Ramana 1289 ( CAL), N13°09'21.6" E93°00'24.4", 698 m alt., 8 Apr. 2013 .

Conservation status — The present novelty is reported only from one locality with a small population of 5–6 individuals. There are no perceived threats, since it is reported from a protected area, either to the population or its habitat. This may be regarded under Data Deficient category as no information is available on its rarity or abundance ( IUCN 2013).

Notes — The shrubby habit, subcylindrical branches, smaller leaves, bright pinkish flowers in simple or compound cymes from leafless twigs or terminal on short leafy lateral twigs, cup-shaped hypanthium, hooded or hemispherical petals and loosely aggregated 5–6 stamen bundles in three rows on hypanthium make it very distinctive from all the known species described in Indian floras ( Hooker 1879, Parkinson 1923).

The authors also examined mountain shrubby species from British Burma ( Kurz 1877) and Malaya Peninsula ( Ridley 1922) for comparison. It resembles S. contractum Wall. from Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) in possessing pinkish non-calyptrate flowers, deciduous sepals, petals cohering into a pseudocalyptra, but differs from it in having subopposite decussate leaves (vs opposite decussate), lamina elliptic, ovate (vs linear-oblong), inflorescences simple or compound cymes on lateral leafy or leafless branchlets (vs terminal corymbs), hypanthium cup-shaped (vs funnel-shaped) and hooded or hemispherical petals (vs orbicular).

Figures

Fig. 1 Syzygium hookeri M.V.Ramana, Chorghe, Venu. a. Habitat; b. twig; c. lower side of leaf; d–f. inflorescence on leafless/leafy lateral twigs. — Photos by M.V. Ramana.