Cytotaxonomy of Urginea govindappae sp. nov.

Abstract

Urginea govindappae Boraiah and Fathima sp. nov. was collected from Lal Bagh, Bangalore, Mysore State, India and describded as a new species. It shows similarities with Urginea indica Kunth and U. coromandeliana Hook. f. in having 2n = 20. It differs from these species both morphologically and cytologically in having the following features:

a. Oval, elongated, 5-6 cm long, 2-4 cm broad bulb.

b. 20-30 cm long, deeply grooved, 0.5-1 cm broad leaves.

c. Sparsely arranged, 7-9 flowered scapes.

d. 3-4 cm long pedicels.

e. 1 cm long, 0.2 cm broad perianth lobes with pointed tips.

f. 1.3 cm to 1.5 cm long, 0.8-1 cm broad capsules.

g. Two pairs of chromosomes with secondary constrictions. This species could further be distinguished from U. coromandeliana in the following features:

a. Presence of evanescent bracts.

b. Absence of perianth lobes with rounded bearded tips

c. Presence of only subterminal constrictions in all the chromosomes. The Holotype of thes pecies nova collected Boraiah and Fathima from Lal Bagh, Bangalore, Mysore State, India, on 17-5-68 under the number 601A and the Isotypes 601B-F are deposited at Herbarium, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore 24, Mysore State, India. The plants were found growing in association with Urginea indica and other grasses.