Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala (Rubiaceae) sp. nov. from Assam, India

Abstract

The new species Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala (Rubiaceae) is described and illustrated from Assam, India. The species is closely allied to Ophiorrhiza ochroleuca Hook.f. by having glabrous stem, glabrous leaves and axillary and terminal inflorescence, but differs in having leaf base attenuate, inflorescence 3-4 cm across, creamy white flowers, peduncle 5-7 cm long and pubescent capsule. Furthermore, the corolla tube of O. recurvipetala is hairy within the whole tube and the corolla lobes are acute at apex and strongly recurved. A detailed description, distribution, ecology, phenology, key to the species of Ophiorrhiza of northeast India and relevant taxonomic notes are provided along with a colour illustration.

On the extended distribution of two species of Ophiorrhiza L. (Rubiaceae) from the States of India

“…At present, 47 species and 9 varieties of the genus have been recorded from India and out of them, 21 species and 1 variety have been reported from North-East India (10). Recently, few new species of genus were discovered from North-Eastern states of India (11)(12)(13).…”

Ophiorrhiza gajureliana (Rubiaceae): a new species from Arunachal Pradesh, India

“…Out of 52 taxa, 25 species are endemic to India (Hareesh et al 2015) and among them, 16 taxa were endemic to South India, and six taxa were found in North-East India (Jeyaprakash and Balachandran 2023). In Assam, the genus is represented by Nine species (Brooah and Ahmed 2014, Bhuyan andBaruah, 2021, 2022). In Arunachal Pradesh, the genus is represented by 20 species (Hajra et al 1996, Jeyaprakash andBalachandran 2023).…”