Arumugam Rajendran

Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) climbers of Southern Western Ghats, India

Background and AimsThe Mountains of the Western Ghats are the second most important shelter in the world for threatened species. The current paper is an attempt to study the conservation assessment of rare, endangered and threatened species (RET) of the southern Western Ghats. A species is endangered when it is threatened with extinction. Since time began, countless species have gone extinct from natural processes. The present study was conducted to identify the rare, endangered and threatened climbing plants in Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India.MethodsThe plant collection and identification of the RET listed climbing species of the Southern Western Ghats was done during 2011–2014. The collection and identified RET plant species from the study were selected from different hills (forest) of Tamil Nadu. During the work the selected study sites were visited, plant specimens were collected and systematically pressed, stored for identification.Key resultsA total number of 285 climber species comprising 125 genera of 41 families were identified from Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu. Out of 285, 33 species are listed as RET species like Ceropegia mannarana Umam. & Daniel and Gloriosa superba L. fond to be Endangered species and Celastrus paniculata Willd., Aganosma cymosa G.Don. Smilax wightii A. DC., Corallocarpus gracilipes Cong., are rare species. The most specious families include Asclepiadaceae (7 species), Convolvulaceae (5-species) followed by, Fabaceae (4-species), Cucurbitaceae and Liliaceae each 3-species, and all the other remaining families having two or one species each.ConclusionSome of the threatened factors such as over-exploitation of natural resources and other anthropogenic activities adversely affect the existing ecosystem and it may lead to the rarity of many species in future. There is an urgent need for developing pragmatic conservation strategies for endemic plants in the southern Western Ghats, which may lead to their effective protection.

A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima (Fabaceae) from Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Objective A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima is described from the Western Ghats of India. Crotalaria ramosissima Roxb. var. kanuvayensis Binu T., K. M. Prabhu et A. Rajendran (Fabaceae) from Kanuvai hills, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Methods Compare this species with available varieties of Crotalaria and cross checked with previous literature for authetification of this taxa. Results The current paper provides a detailed description of the new taxa along with illustrations, colour plates and other relevant notes. Conclusions The present study concluded that this taxa is new to science from the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India.

Medicinal uses of psammophytic plants in Tranquebar regions of Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT The ecological habitats in the Indian sub-continent vary from the humid tropical Western Ghats to the hot deserts of Rajasthan; the ice-capped mountains of the Himalaya to warm coast of Peninsular India. The present study of the Coromandel coast for the use of plants for medicinal purposes documented 100 species belonging to 88 genera in 41 families of which 27 species were administered against 17 ailments by fisherman and rural communities in the Tranquebar coastal regions of Tamil Nadu; 15 species were used in Ayurvedic systems of medicine, 16 species were used in Siddha and Unani systems of medicine, and 12 species are used against other diseases.

A NEW MANGROVE ASSOCIATED SPECIES RECORD (CONOCARPUS L. -COMBRETACEAE) FROM TAMIL NADU

The family Combretaceae belongs to the order Myrtales and comprises 20 genera and 500 species (Heywood et al., 2007; APG III, 2009). The family is distributed throughout the tropics, with some extensions to subtropical and warm-temperate regions (Stace, 2007; Krachai and Pornpongrungrueng, 2015). In the state of Tamil Nadu, the family Combretaceae is represented by 6 genera, namely, Terminalia L., Anogeissus Wall., Calycopteris Lamk., Lumnitzera Willd., Combretum L., and Quisqualis L., subsequently, genus Conocarpus is now added to the Flora of Tamil Nadu, which has not been reported earlier from Tamil Nadu (Henry et al., 1987; Matthew, 1983; 1999; Manickam et al., 2003a; 2004b; Murugan and Gopalan, 2006; Nair and Henry, 1983; Ravikumar et al., 2004; Stephen and Vajravelu, 1999). During the floristic collection trips to coastal regions of Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu, an interesting Combretaceae plant with globose fruits have been collected by the author, which on a critical study has been identified as Conocarpus erectus L., belonging to the family Combretaceae. It is native to North America and the shores of tropical America and Africa (Boone, 1988). Previously, this specimen was also been collected in India only from Andhra Pradesh (Nagireddy et al., 2015). Which after through a critical study and identification, it turned out to a new record for the state of Tamil Nadu. A critical examination of the literature revealed that so far this genus and species has not been reported from Tamil Nadu. Therefore, this genus and a species are reported here with description, herbarium image, illustrations, and relevant notes based on collector’s information for its identification.

A new species of Malaxis (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae) from the Southern Western Ghats, India

A new species, Malaxis nilgiriensis, is described and illustrated based on the material collected from the Nilgiris of Western Ghats, southern India. It superficially resembles Malaxis versicolor but differs by the presence of a pseudobulb and stolon, a short inflorescence, and a lip slightly bilobed with four retuse teeth. The taxonomic phenology of the new species as well as its etymology, conservation status, and diagnostic features are discussed.