Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) Walker (Asteraceae) - A new record for the

flora of North-West India

Keywords: Flora, new record, N-W India.

ABSTRACT: The present paper put on record Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) Walker (Asteraceae) a species new to the flora of North-West India. The species was collected from Jammu region, Jammu and Kashmir State in 2010. Since it has not been reported earlier from North-West India, therefore, recorded an addition to the flora of North-West India.

045-047 | JRPS | 2012 | Vol 1 | No 1

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Authors:

Bhellum BL.

Institution:

Department of Botany, Govt.

Degree College, Kathua-184

101, J&K, India

Corresponding author:

Bhellum BL.

Web Address: http://plantsciences.info/

documents/PS0014.pdf.

Dates: Received: 12 Jan 2012 /Accepted: 19 Jan 2012 /Published: 24 Jan 2012

Article Citation: Bhellum BL. Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) Walker (Asteraceae) - A new record for the flora of North-West India. Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 045-047

Original Research Paper

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INTRODUCTION

During the course of forays in different parts of

Jammu of Jammu and Kashmir, the author collected

some specimens of Conyza Less. from Jammu and R. S.

Pura. On further examination these specimens turned out

to be Conyza sumatrensis Less.(Asteraceae). Hajra et al.

(1995) has described this species based on the

specimens collected from Karnataka, India. John De

Britto et al. (2011) differentiated eight species of

Lamiaceae by using phytochemical analsis. Perusal of

floristic literature including Royle (1939), Stewart

(1972), Singh and Kachroo (1976), Sharma and Kachroo

(1981, 1983) and Sharma and Jamwal (1988, 1998),

Swami and Gupta (1998) reveals that the species has

never been reported from India. Therefore, it represents a

new record for North-West India.

A brief description of the plant and its floral parts

are given (Fig. 2) to facilitate its identification in field.

Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) Walker, J. Jap. Bot.

46:72. 1971; Ling & Chen, Fl. Reipubl. Popul. Sin.

74:350. pl. 88. 1985. Erigeron sumatrensis Retz., Obs.

Bot. 5:28. 1789. Erigeron floribundus (Kunth) Sch.-Bip.

In Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 12:81. 1865.

Habit:

Annual, erect, 50- 200 cm tall herbs; stem

brached upwards, hirsute; basal leaves oblanceolate,

attenuate at base, apex acute, withered at anthesis,

persistent, margins serrate, dentate, 4- 10 x 0.5- 1.5 cm,

upper ones smaller, linear, lanceolate, subentire, acute,

sparsely hirsute on both the surfaces; heads numerous in

large racemose panicles; bracts 3-seriate, linear,

lanceolate, outer ones smaller 2- 3 mm long, inner ones

larger 4- 5 mm long, margin scarious; ray florets many

arranged in 3- 4 rows, filiform, ligulate, ligule minute, 3-

4 mm long yellow; disc florets bisexual, corolla narrowly

tubular, yellow; cypselae oblong, oblanceolate, 0.8- 1.4

mm long, compressed, ribbed.

Habitat: Grows along the margins of canals and waste

places at Chakrohi, R. S. Pura, Bishnah, Miran Sahib,

and Ramgarh.

Flowers and Fruits: May–August

Distribution: India: Kerala, Jammu; Taiwan, Sri Lanka,

Malaysia, America, Australia, Sumatra, Nepal.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to Prof. A. K. Koul

Centre for Biodiversity, BGSB. University, Rajouri and

Bhellum, 2012

046 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 045-047

Fig. 1. Map of Jammu and Kashmir State

Fig. 2. Conyza Sumatrensis (Retz.) Walker: A, basal

portion of stem with roots; B, middle portion of stem

with leaves; C, terminal portion of stem with flowers.

to Prof. Rani Magotra Department of Botany, University

of Jammu for encouragement. My sincere thanks to the

Director, IIIM, Jammu for providing access for Library

consultation.

REFERENCES

Hajra PK, Rao RR, Singh DK and Uniyal BP. 1995.

Flora of India. 12 & 13 BSI. Calcutta. 109-110.

John De Britto A, Steena Roshan Sebastian and Mary

Sujin R. 2011. Phytochemical analysis of eight

medicinal plants of Lamiaceae, Journal of Research in

Plant Sciences. 1: 001- 006.

Ling Y and Chen YL. 1985. (ed.) Flora of Taiwan Fl.

Reipubl. Popul. Sin. 74: 350. Pl. 88.

Royle JF. 1839. Illustrations of the Botany and other

branches of the Natural History of the Himalayan

mountains and of the flora of Cashmere. Vol. I & II.

Sharma BM and Kachroo P. 1981. Flora of Jammu

and plants of neighbourhood. Bishen Singh Mahendra

Pal Singh, Dehra Dun. I.

Sharma BM. 1981. Illustrations of Jammu Plants- A

supplement to flora of Jammu and Plants of

neighbourhood with a general key and annotation.

Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Sing, Dehra Dun.

Sharma BM and Jamwal PS. 1988. Flora of Upper

Lidder Valley of Kashmir Himalayas. Vol. I. Scientific

publishers, Jodhpur.

Sharma BM and Jamwal PS. 1998. Flora of Upper

Lidder Valley of Kashmir Himalayas. Vol. II. Scientific

publishers, Jodhpur.

Singh G and Kachroo P. 1976. Forest flora of Srinagar

and plants of neighbourhood. Periodical Expert Book

Agency, Delhi.

Swami A and Gupta BK. 1998. Flora of Udhampur.

Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun.

Stewart RR. 1972. An annotated Catalogue of vascular

plants of West Pakistan and Kashmir In: E Nasir and S I

Ali. (eds.) Flora of West Pakistan. Karachi

Walker E. 1971. Critical taxonomic changes concerning

the plants of Okinawa and southern Ryukyu Islands. J.

Jap. Bot., 46: 65- 72.

Bhellum, 2012

Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 045-047 047

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