Syzygium bharathii Ramasubbu, 2018

Raju, Ramasubbu, Surendran, Anjana, Chellathurai, Divya, Nambi, Sasi Kala & Gurusamy, Manikandan, 2018, A new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from the South Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India, Phytotaxa 374 (3), pp. 263-267 : 264-266

Syzygium bharathii Ramasubbu , sp. nov. ( Figure 1 .)

TYPE:— INDIA, Tamil Nadu, Theni District, Megamalai hills, 09 º 41′05.91N ; 77 º 22′57.72 E ; 1579 elev., 28 January 2017, R. Ramasubbu, GU 130 (holotype TBGT!, isotype GUD!) .

Syzygium bharathii is closely allied to Syzygium benthamianum ( Duthie 1878 –9: 484) Gamble (1919: 478) and S. agastyamalayanum M.B. Viswanathan & Manikandan (2008) but differs from them by the presence of a cylindrical stem with red young shootlets, glabrous leaves with wavy margin, quadrangular peduncle, large sized creamy-white flowers, inwardly curved filaments, narrow pyriform hypanthium, obovate, subglobose, ellipsoid fruits and ovate-obovate seeds (see Table 1 for details).

Glabrous trees, up to 10 m tall; bark surface pale brown, blaze dark brown; young branchlets cylindrical, pinkish red, thickened at nodes; internodes 2.5 cm long; mature branchlets with prominent leaf scars. Leaves crimson-red when young and dark green and shining when adult, subsessile, rounded below, opposite-decussate, facing upwards, punctuate beneath, base acute or obtuse, broadly ovate-elliptic, acute at apex, smooth, 3.4–3.9× 1.5–2 cm; adaxial midrib grooved, lateral nerves 23–26 at each side, brochidodromus, prominent on both surfaces margin slightly revolute, midrib slightly impressed above, elevated beneath; intramarginal nerves 1–2, reticulate. Inflorescence corymbose cyme, terminal, peduncle 2.0– 2.5 cm long. Peduncle and branchlets 4-angled. Flower buds 0.3–0.5 cm long, obconical. Flowers sessile, 0.8–1.0 cm long, peduncles to 1.4–1.6 cm long. Hypanthium 0.25–0.3× 0.20–0.28 cm, pyriform, greenish with deep red tinge. Calyx lobes four, 1.0– 1.3 mm, deltoid, acute, persistent at anthesis, tinged purplish red. Petals four, 1.8–2.0×2.6–3.0 mm, suborbicular, slightly subequal, calyptrate, creamy-white. Stamens 36–50, 10–18 mm long, the filaments milky white, inwardly curved at middle, blended at apex, basally dilated; anther lobes 0.4–0.5 mm, basifixed, arrow-shaped, 2-locular. Style 0.6–0.7 mm long, pale white, pointed with a thickened basal portion; ovary 2-celled, with many unequal ovules per locule. Fruits berries, 0.8–1.2 × 1.5–2.2 cm, obovate, subglobose, ellipsoid, deep purple when ripe. Seed one per fruit, 0.5–1.0 × 1.0– 1.5 cm, ovate-obovate.

Conservation status:— Syzygium bharathii is assessed as Critically endangered (CR; Criterion B1(a), B2 +C2(a)(i),(b)+D) according to the IUCN guidelines (2016). The species apparently is a narrow endemic species, since it is known from only one site of Megamalai hills and there were about 30 individuals observed within 4.67 km 2. The habitat of this species was severely affected by tea estate and other commercial plantations such as coffee and cardamom.

Etymology:—The specific epithet has named to honor Mahakavi Bharathiar (1882–1921), also known as Mr. Bharathi, Tamil poet who contributed a lot to the conservation of nature through verse.

Distribution:—Rare on the hilltops between ca. 1579–1683 elev., Megamalai hills, Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Paratypes:— INDIA, Tamil Nadu, Theni District , Megamalai hills 09 º 41′05.91 N ; 77 º 22′57.72 E ; 1579 elev., 28 January 2017, R. Ramasubbu & Anjana Surendran 130 ( GUD!) ; idem, 09 º 40′18.79 N ; 77 º 23′10.11 E ; 1683 elev., 16 May 2017, Anjana Surendran & C. Divya 131 ( GUD!) ; idem, 09 º 40′18.79 N ; 77 º 23′10.11 E ; 1683 elev., 16 May 2017, G. Manikandan & N. Sasi Kala 141 ( GUD!) .

Flowering & Fruiting:—January-March.

Notes:— Syzygium bharathii is a medium-sized tree growing up to 10 m tall in the forest areas of Megamalai Wildlife sanctuary. This species is closely allied to Syzygium benthamianum ( Duthie 1878 –9: 484) Gamble (1919: 478) and S. agastyamalayanum M.B. Viswanathan & Manikandan (2008) but differs it from having a cylindrical stem with red young shootlets, glabrous leaves with wavy margin, quadrangular peduncle, large sized creamy-white flowers, inwardly curved filaments, pyriform hypanthium, variably shaped fruits and seeds ( Table 1 & Figure 1 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Syzygium bharathii Ramasubbu sp. nov. A) Adult tree at flowering; B) Blaze color of bark; C) Young cylindrical red shootlet; D) Leaf- ventral view; E) Individual flower showing conical shaped hypanthium; F) Greenish with deep red tinged hypanthium; G) View of ovules inside the ovary; H) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) view of anther with filament; I) SEM view of gynoecium; J) Fruiting branch; K) Individual fruit; L) Seeds.