Campanula densiciliata Acharya Balkrishna, Harsh Singh, B.Joshi & R.K.Mishra

Balkrishna, Acharya, Singh, Harsh, Joshi, Bhasker, Srivastava, Anupam, Kumar, Aashish, Kumar, Amit, Vats, Prashant, Singh, Vikram & Mishra, Rajesh Kumar, 2024, A new species of Campanula L. (Campanulaceae) from Western Himalaya, India, Phytotaxa 652 (3), pp. 227-234 : 231-233

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.652.3.4
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13381523
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F94D87B6-1A46-FFD0-FF20-0C17EF58FE89
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Campanula densiciliata Acharya Balkrishna, Harsh Singh, B.Joshi & R.K.Mishra
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Campanula densiciliata Acharya Balkrishna, Harsh Singh, B.Joshi & R.K.Mishra sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–3 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 , 4 View FIGURE 4 )

Type:— INDIA: Uttarakhand. Yamunotri, Kharsali village , 28 Aug. 2023, 2800 m, Harsh Singh & Aashish Kumar 9336 ( Holotype PRFH; Isotype BSD) .

Diagnosis:— Campanula densiciliata shares similarities with C. argyrotricha , but it differs in sinuate leaves, rounded leaf base, reduced, crenate calyx teeth (less than half of the corolla), elliptic corolla lobes, and different lengths of stigmatic lobes ( vs. dentate, crenate to serrate leaves, attenuate or cuneate base, entire calyx teeth half as long as corolla with entire or dentate margin and oblongoblanceolate to oblong-obovate corolla lobes, where stigmatic lobes are equally placed in C. argyrotricha . It is also similar to C. latifolia Linnaeus (1753: 165) but differs in ovate-elliptic, small (1.8–2.8 × 1.7–2.2 cm) leaves, solitary, terminal inflorescence, small flower c. 2.8 cm long, anther 1.4 mm long, stigmatic lobes with two different lengths ( vs. lanceolate to ovate, large (12 × 7 cm) leaves, inflorescence on the axils of upper leaves forming a raceme, large flower 3–4 cm long, anther 8-11 mm long, same length stigmatic lobe).

Description:—Decumbent to erect, 70–80 cm long, annual, herbs. Root fibrous. Leaves sparse, ovate-elliptic, 1.8–2.8 × 1.7–2.2 cm, apex obtuse to rounded, base rounded, margin sinuate, pubescent; with very sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, petiole 0.8–2.0 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Inflorescence terminal solitary cyme. Bracts foliaceous, ovate, 2.3 × 0.9 mm, densely pubescent at margin but few hairs on both surfaces. Flower solitary, 2.8 × 2.1 cm, pendulous, blue, terminal, pedicels 4–5 mm long, porrect, later deflexed. Hypanthium 0.4 × 0.3 mm, outer surface densely pubescent. Calyx 5, adnate to ovary, 6.3–7.2 × 1.3–16 mm; calyx teeth 5, subulate, apex acute, margin crenate, densely pubescent on margins. Corolla tube campanulate, blue or lilac, 5-lobed; corolla lobes, 4.6–5.8 × 2.7–3.3 mm, apex acute to acuminate. margin wavy, densely ciliate. Stamens 5, filaments dilated, c. 4.5 mm long, base triangular, densely hairy, anther 1.4 × 1.0 mm long, coherent, bright yellow. Ovary globose, c. 1.3 mm, glabrous, shiny green; style 1, 11.0 to 13 mm long, stigmatic lobes 3; two different lengths (two small c. 0.4 mm) and one large c. 0.8 mm). Capsule ovoid to ellipsoid, c. 0.5 × 0.2 mm long; seeds many, ellipsoid.

Phenology:—August-September.

Etymology:—The specific epithet ‘densiciliata’ is derived from its densely hairy margin of the calyx lobes.

Habitat & Distribution:— Campanula densiciliata grows in humus-rich soil in the dense forest undergrowth of Rhododendron Linnaeus (1753: 392) , along with plant species of Fragaria nubicola (Hook.f.) Lindl. ex Lacaita ( Lacaita 1916: 467), Anemone Linnaeus (1753: 538) , Stellaria Linnaeus (1753: 421) and Parnassia nubicola Wall. ex Royle (Royle 1835: 227). So far, the new species has been found only from type locality Kharsali, Yamunotri ( Uttarakhand).