Taxonomic identity of <i>Theriophonum danielii</i> and <i>T. manickamii</i> (Araceae)

Abstract

The genus Theriophonum (Araceae), represented by seasonally dormant tuberous perennials is endemic to India and Sri Lanka. Critical taxonomic appraisal of the constituent species supports existence of only five species, viz. T. dalzellii, T. fischeri, T. infaustum, T. minutum and T. sivaganganum, and all are with restricted distribution in India. Theriophonum minutum is the only species with extended distribution in Sri Lanka. The recently described T. danielii and T. manickamii are considered here as conspecific with T. infaustum and T. fischeri, respectively.

Theriophonum blumei (Araceae), a new species from Tamil Nadu, India

“…T. manickamii Murugan and Natarajan (2008) and T. danielii Rajakumar et al (2010) were published. However, Sivadasan et al (2014) reduced the latter two species to synonyms of T. fischeri and T. infaustum respectively. At present, the Plant List database (<https://www.theplantlist.org/>) accepts these two taxa as distinct species whereas the Plants of the World online (<https://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/>) treats them as synonyms as proposed by Sivadasan et al (2014).…”

“…extending to Sri Lanka (Sivadasan and Nicolson 1982). Theriophonum shows variation in lamina shape, size and structure due to various ecological parameters such as soil type, shade and climatic condition (Sivadasan et al 2014). Schott (1860) and Engler (1920) both recognized three species of Theriophonum from India.…”

“…T. manickamii Murugan and Natarajan (2008) and T. danielii Rajakumar et al (2010) were published. However, Sivadasan et al (2014) reduced the latter two species to synonyms of T. fischeri and T. infaustum respectively. At present, the Plant List database (www.theplantlist.org/) accepts these two taxa as distinct species whereas the Plants of the World online (www.plantsoftheworldonline.…”

“…At present, the Plant List database (www.theplantlist.org/) accepts these two taxa as distinct species whereas the Plants of the World online (www.plantsoftheworldonline. org/) treats them as synonyms as proposed by Sivadasan et al (2014).…”

“…The identity of the specimen was examined at Rapinat Herbarium, Tiruchirappalli (RHT) and Madras Herbarium Theriophonum blumei (Araceae), a new species from Tamil Nadu, India (MH), Southern Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore. It was scrutinized based on the earlier published literature such as Sivadasan and Nicolson (1982), Matthew (1983), Daniel et al (1988), Murugan and Natarajan (2008), Rajakumar et al (2010), Sivadasan et al (2014) and Sasikala et al (2019). Since our present collection did not match convincingly with any of the earlier published species; we consider it to be a new species of Theriophonum.…”