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SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 112, NO. 4, 25 FEBRUARY 2017 693
hopefully will find the political will to
forestall the evolving GMO-driven eco-
logical, economic and social disasters in
cotton and in other food crops.
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Received 2 January 2 017; accepted 5 January
2017
ANDREW PAUL GUTIERREZ1, 2,*
LUIGI PONTI2,3
JOHANN BAUMGÄRTNER2
1Universit y of California, Berkeley,
CA 94720, USA
2Center for the Analysis of Sustainable
Agricultural Systems,
Kensington, CA 94707-1035, USA
3Agenzia nazionale per le nuove
tecnologie,
l’energia e lo sviluppo economico
sostenibile (ENEA),
Centro Ricerche Casaccia,
Via Anguillarese 301,
00123, Roma, Italy
*For correspondence.
e-mail: casas.kensington@gmail.com
Arenaria thangoensis W.W.Sm. (Caryophyllaceae), a threatened
species hitherto considered endemic to Sikkim rediscovered from the
Western Himalaya, India
The genus Arenaria s.l. is represented by
about 210 species of annual or perennial
herbs distributed in the temperate and
arctic areas of Asia, Europe, northern
Africa, North America and South Amer-
ica1. In India, it is represented by 24 spe-
cies2 mainly confined to the Himalaya of
which Arenaria curvifolia Majumdar,
Arenaria ferruginea Duthie ex F. Wil-
liams and Arenaria thangoensis
W.W.Sm. are listed as Indian endemics
and ‘endangered’/‘vulnerable’ species in
the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened
Plants3 and Red Data Book of Indian
Plants4. A. curvifolia was rediscovered
after 121 years in its type locality, i.e.
Kuari Pass, Uttarakhand nearly a decade
ago5, but A. f erruginea and A. thangoen-
sis still elude the taxonomists.
A. thangoensis W.W.Sm. was descri-
bed6 in 1911 based on the collection of
plant specimens by Smith & Cave
(2572 CAL!) in 1909 from Thangu
(‘Tangu’) area of Sikkim in the Eastern
Himalaya. This species was also col-
lected from Chugya (Eastern Himalaya)
by Rohmoo Lepcha (285 CAL image!),
but never recollected either from the type
locality or anywhere in the Himalaya or
Tibet. It has also been mentioned as
known by the type collection only7.
During a floristic exploration in the
Kuari Pass alpine zone (Chamoli district,
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CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 112, NO. 4, 25 FEBRUARY 2017 694
Uttarakhand, Figure 1 a), which happens
to be the type locality of ‘Endangered’ A.
curvifolia. Majumdar5 collected a small
Arenaria species from a moss-covered
steep rock face. This species was identi-
fied as A. thangoensis W.W.Sm. after
consulting the relevant literature2,4,
original description6 of the species and
comparison with type specimens housed
in the Central National Herbarium,
Howrah (CAL) and herbarium of Forest
Research Institute, Dehradun (DD). This
collection is a rediscovery of this threat-
ened species after more than a century.
Critical observations of our specimens
and the type specimens in CAL and DD
proved worthy as some minor variations
were recorded in plant size, merosity and
number of stamens and styles. Since the
species was earlier known only by the
original description based on a few dried
plant specimens some minor characters
were overlooked. Consequently, the
images and detailed descriptions of this
species, including observed variations
are provided here for correctly describ-
ing it to further authenticate that it is i n-
deed a threatened species and to facilitate
its correct identification.
Arenaria thangoensis W.W.Sm. Rec.
Bot. Surv. India, 4, 180, 1911; Majumdar
in B.D. Sharma & N.P. Balakr., Fl. India
2: 517.1993.
Herb, perennial. Taproot fusiform,
tuberous, 5–15 1–1.5 mm. Stem short
(0.5–4 cm long), reddish, cylindrical,
branched from base, further dichoto-
mously branched 2–3 times, hairy with
one line of eglandular white hairs.
Leaves succulent, bi-convex, obovate–
oblanceolate, 1.5–4 0.5–1.25 mm, hairy
on both surfaces and margins, long hairy
at base, lamina narrowing down to broad
petiole, leaf base marginally broader than
petiole and united in pairs, apex acute.
Pedicel erect or curved, 2–4 mm, longer
than sepals, pubescent throughout. Flow-
ers in cymes, usually pentamerous, rarely
tetramerous, apetalous, 2–3 mm across
when open. Sepals 5(4), succulent,
linear–lanceolate, 1.5–3 0.5–0.75 mm,
saccate at base, obtuse or acute at apex,
margin and abaxial surface hairy. Petals
absent. Stamens 2(3)–5, antisepalous, 1–
1.5 mm long, basal gland absent, anther
brownish–black, ca. 0.5 mm long. Ovary
ovoid, 1–1.5 0.5–1 mm, styles 2 (–3),
ca. 1 mm long. Capsule ovoid, 1.5–
3 1–2 mm, dehiscing by four valves to
base. Seeds 3–5 (–8) per fruit, oblong–
subglobose, brown, 0.5–0.8 0.5 mm,
smooth or faintly wrinkled (Figure 1 b).
Flowering: August–September; fruit-
ing: September.
Distribution: India (Sikkim, Uttara-
khand), China (Tibet).
Specimens examined: India – Sikkim:
Thangu, 275814.7N 883442.5E,
4500 m, 15 August 1909, Smith & Cave
2572 (CAL!; DD!); Uttarakhand: Cha-
moli district, Kuari Pass, 3300–3600 m,
10 September 1885, J.F. Duthie 3869
(DD!); Uttarakhand: Chamoli district,
Kuari Pass, 3600–3700 m, 302652.2N
793358.1E, 22 August 2015, Satish
Chandra s.n. (Acc. no. 826 G.B. Pant
University Herbarium Pantnagar, Uttara-
khand, India!). China – Tibet: Eastern
Himalaya, Chugya, 274628.4N
890843.7E, 15000 ft, 18 September
1912, Rohmoo Lepcha 285 (CAL, im-
age!).
This species was found growing with
mosses, Saxifraga sp., Koenigia island-
dica, etc. on a shady, moist vertical rock
face at one locality only. Up to 50 indi-
viduals were seen in a small area of 4–
5 m2. However, presence of this species
in a few similar habitats in inaccessible
adjacent rock slopes cannot be ruled out.
It is interesting to mention that this
species was collected earlier from Kuari
Pass area in 1885 (J.F. Duthie 3869
DD!), 26 years prior to its discovery6
from Sikkim in 1911. However, the
specimens of Duthie housed in DD re-
mained unnoticed during the compilation
of Caryophyllaceae flora of India2 and
Uttarakhand8.
At present A. thangoensis is known
from three localities (Thangu, Sikkim;
Kuari Pass, Uttarakhand, and Chugya,
Tibet; Figure 1 c) in the world and not
endemic to India as Chugya lies in the
uppermost part of Chumbi valley, just
5.5 km north of Phari Plains along S204
Provincial Road which starts from
Nathula Pass and goes to Gyantse and
Shigatse in Tibet (China). Despite simi-
lar habitats, the species is not known
from well-explored Bhutan9, Nepal10,
Himachal Pradesh11, Jammu and Kash-
mir12, Arunachal Pradesh13 in the Hima-
laya, and adjacent China14. In the Flora
of Sikkim, Srivastava15 (type locality of
the species) reported it based on the type
collection made in 1909. Previous floris-
tic studies8,16,17 have not mentioned this
species, indicating its extreme rarity. It is
Figure 1. a, Kuari Pass, Uttarakhand, India. b, Arena ria thangoensis with scale. c, Map show-
ing known locations o f species and location of redi scovery.
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 112, NO. 4, 25 FEBRUARY 2017 695
possible that the populations of this spe-
cies in Thangu and Chugya areas were
not visited by subsequent collectors lead-
ing to the unavailability of specimens
from these areas. The collection reported
here indicates that it continues to survive
in Kuari Pass area since the last 130
years (1885–2015). The species is not
endemic to India and fulfils the criteria
B2a, B2biv and D1 of section B and D of
the ‘Vulnerable’ category at regional
level according to IUCN18.
A. thangoensis W.W.Sm. has been re-
discovered from Kuari Pass area district
Chamoli, Uttarakhand. A new distribu-
tional record is made here from Western
Himalaya based on Duthie’s collection
after a lapse of 130 years and our own
collection in 2015 after 106 years of type
collection from Sikkim. Interestingly, the
specimen collected from Chugya (Tibet,
China) by Rohmoo Lepcha (285, CAL)
as mentioned in Singh and Diwakar19,
also makes it a new record to the flora of
China. It is a threatened species assessed
as ‘Vulnerable’3,4 and based on our field
observations, its ‘Vulnerable’ status is
tentatively supported. However, the con-
tinued existence (1885–2015) of this spe-
cies in Kuari Pass area proves that it
survives on inaccessible rocky slopes de-
spite anthropogenic pressures and calls
for a survey of all known localities and
similar habitats, both in India and China
for correct assessment of its global threat
status.
1. Mabberley, D. J., Ma bber ley’s Plan t-
Book : A Porta ble Dictiona ry of Plants,
their Classification s, and Uses , Cam-
bridge University Press, Cambridge,
2008, p. 1021.
2. Majumdar, N. C., In Flo ra of India, Vol-
ume 2 (eds Sharma, B. D. and Balakrish-
nan, N. P.), Botanical Survey of India,
Kolkata, 1993, pp. 503–595.
3. Rao, C. K., Geetha, B. L. and Geetha, S.,
Red List of Threa tened Vascular Plant
Species in India, Botanica l Survey of
India, Howrah, 2003, p. 28.
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Data Book of Ind ian Plants, Volume 1,
Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata,
1987, p. 367.
5. Rawat, D. S. and Rana, C. S., Curr. Sci.,
2007, 92(11), 1486–1488.
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Surv. Ind ia, 19 11, 4, 141–260.
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P., Arisdason, W. and Sardesai, M. M.,
J. Threat. Taxa, 2015, 7(8), 7465–7470.
8. Uniyal, B. P., Sharma, J. R., Choudhery,
U. and Singh, D. K., Flowerin g Plant s of
Uttarakhand (A Check List), Bishen
Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun,
2007, p. 404.
9. Grierson, A. J. C., In Flo ra of Bhut an
(eds Grierson, A. J. C. and Long, D. G.),
Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh, UK,
1984, vol. 1, pp. 205–209.
10. Press, J. R., Shrestha, K. K. and Sutton,
D. A., Annotated checklist of the flower-
ing plants of Nepal. Natural History
Museum Publications, London, 2000 ;
http://www.efloras.org (accessed on 23
March 2016).
11. Chowdhery, H. J. and Wadhwa, B. M.,
Flora of Himachal Pradesh, Volume 1,
Botanical Survey of India, Howrah,
1984, pp. 85–108.
12. Majumdar, S. C., In Flor a o f Jammu and
Kash mir, Volume 1 (eds Singh, N. P.,
Singh, D. K. and Uniyal, B. P.), Botani-
cal Survey of India, Kolkata, 2002, pp.
633–6 90.
13. Hajra, P. K., Verma, D. M. and Giri, G.
S., Mate rial for the Flora of Arunacha l
Prad esh, Volume 1, Botanical Survey of
India, Howrah, 1996, p. 655.
14. Zhengyi, W., Lihua, Z. and Wagner, W.
L., In Flora of China (Caryo phyllacea e
throu gh Lardizab alac eae) , Volum e 6
(eds Wu, Z. and Raven, P. H.), Missouri
Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA,
2001; www.efloras.org (acce ssed on 23
March 2016).
15. Srivastava, R. C., Flora of Sikkim
(Ran uncul aceae to Mo ringa ceae ), Orien-
tal Enterprises, Dehradun, 1998.
16. Naithani, B. D., Flora of Cha moli Dis-
tric t, Vo lume 1 , Botanical Survey of
India, Howrah, 1984.
17. Gaur, R. D., Rawat, D. S. and Dangwal, L.
R., J. Econ. Taxon. Bot., 1995, 19, 9–26.
18. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria:
Version 3.1, IUCN Species Survival
Commission, IUCN, Gla nd, Switzerland,
2013, p. 32.
19. Singh, R. K. and Diwakar, P. G., Indian
J. Fo r., 2010, 33(3), 429–436 .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the
curators of the Central National Herbarium,
Howrah and the Forest Research Institu te,
Dehradun for permission to consult speci-
mens.
Received 5 April 2016; revised accepted 29
November 2016
SATISH CHANDRA
D. S. RAWAT*
Department of Biological Sciences,
College of Basic Sciences and Humanities,
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology,
Pantnagar 263 145, India
*For correspondence.
e-mail: drds_rawat@yahoo.com
Species richness estimate of freshwater rotifers (Animalia: Rotifera) of
western Maharashtra, India with comments on their distribution
Of the 2031 Rotifera species described
so far, the Oriental region harbours 78
monogonont genera with 486 species and
9 bdelloid genera with 58 species1. Only
a small fraction (~19%) of that total roti-
fer diversity is known from the Indian
region when compared with the South-
east Asian countries2. Given the complex
geography and geology of the Indian
subcontinent, with estimates ranging
from 360 to 492, it is difficult to predict
the actual number of valid rotifer species
present in India3–7. Comprehensive work
has been carried out in the North East
(NE) Indian states with valid reports of
238 species6, while only some reliable
faunistic information is available from
other regions of the country8,9 . The same
state exists for the rotifer fauna of
Maharashtra as well10–13. The literature
though abounds with faunistic invento-
ries from single localities having numer-
ous nomenclatural errors. In this regard,
we present a species richness estimate
and a comprehensive faunistic report of
freshwater monogonont rotifers from
part of western Maharashtra. We also
present faunal comparison between our
study area and NE India (henceforth re-
ferred to as NEI) with special attention to
families Brachionidae and Lecanidae.
The region selected for the study was
between 18–19N and 73–75E. The
region broadly consists of the Western
Ghats on the western side and Deccan
plateau on the eastern side (henceforth
