Is it some Veronica species?

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Dear members,

Am posting photos of a plant growing on the side of a path in Srinagar . The photos were taken very recently. It is a hairy herb. The flowers are minute about 1-2mm long with pinkish white corolla. Because of their small size  they look like dust specks to the naked eye and can only be examined properly with a magnifying glass. All photos of flowers unless mentioned were taken from specimens put under a dissecting microscope. It has four lobes of very hairy calyx divided to base. The four lobes of corolla (1-1.5mm) are divided to 3/4 of the length. Two stamens with filaments 1mm long bearing minute anthers are adnate to the corolla, The ovary differs from that of Veronicas in being globose. The style ends in a very hairy stigma. Would request the members to suggest the correct ID if this herb.

Photo1 and Photo 2 are the plants (Each small square of graph paper=1mm)

Photo 3 is  a view of the flower

Photo5 shows the two stamens adnate to corolla just as in Veronica persica

Photo 8 is a photo of a mature fruit

With Regards

Taffazull

[J.M. Garg]

Looks different from similar looking species like as per images at
https://efloraofindia.com/2011/04/05/veronica-persica/
https://efloraofindia.com/2011/04/05/veronica-didyma/

To me appears close to images (reported introduced in India) as per images and details  

https://efloraofindia.com/2019/03/19/veronica-hederifolia/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "eFloraofIndia" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to indiantreepi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/b5933e99-008e-4650-8cad-0197e71216e7n%40googlegroups.com.

--

With regards,
J.M.Garg

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Dear Garg ji,

Thanks for the suggestion,

I think  it cant be V.hederifolia  because as Gurcharan ji has pointed out  in another post the pedicels of hederifolia are long but in this plant they are barely 1-2 mm long. This is apart from the fact that it does not occur in the Himalayas. Gurcharan ji in another post  has mentioned another Himalayan plant V.stewartii  which has 3 lobed leaves and short pedicels. However there are no details given so as to  ascertain whether  it is V.stewartii or not. Information about the shape of the ovary would be very helpful as most veronicas have flattened ovaries but this plant has a globose ovary. Further in this plant all the four lobes of the corolla are almost of equal size.

A local villager told me that villagers call it "Zaw Ghas" literally meaning "Lice grass". I think this is so called because its tiny pinkish white flowers resemble lice.

With regards

Taffazull

[taffa...@gmail.com]

According to Wikipedia corolla of V .hederifolia is 1 cm i.e 10 mm wide and blue in color but corolla of this plant is just about 1mm wide.and pinkish white.

Regards

Taffazull

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Some clarifications:

1. The vernacular name is I think best spelled as "Zow ghas" Zow rhyming with "how" and translated as"louse weed".

2, I had written hairy stigma but actually these are not hairs but elongated papillary cells

3.The capsule has 4 seeds and placentation is axile. I will post the photos in due course.

Regards

Taffazull

[J.M. Garg]

Ok, Taffazull ji

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/a2e3e5b0-5990-4025-9908-ed422ffcb261n%40googlegroups.com.

--

With regards,
J.M.Garg

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Some more photos:

Photo1 : Capsule with short 2.5 mm pedicel (small square =1mm)

Photo2: Upper wall of capsule removed to show  two locules and axile placentation.

Photo 3: 2 seeds removed.

Photo4: All 4 seeds removed and empty capsule.

With regards

Taffazull

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks, Taffazull ji.

What about I'd?

--
With regards,
J. M. Garg

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/edbc85e1-0e9b-4bbf-a432-4e4fe7ca550cn%40googlegroups.com.

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Dear Garg ji,

For ID with my limited expertise I would like the opinion of the respected experts of this group.

I have tried to post as much detail as possible to help the experts to arrive at the ID.Will post one more photo to show that unlike most veronicas  the corolla lobes are almost of equal size only the lowest is perhaps slightly smaller.

Seems at least for this group it is a new addition.Could be a new record for Srinagar.

Hope some expert member will provide more clarity

With sincere regards

Taffazull

[Gurcharan Singh]

Taffazul ji

Your plant is clearly V. stewartii.

See my post, I could get hold of herbarium sheet only, no live images. Good you got live images.

https://groups.google.com/g/indiantreepix/c/e4kuquT6w_A/m/xEmu8FNGBgAJ

My V. polita is here as of now

https://groups.google.com/g/indiantreepix/c/x_7-i6Xa45c/m/RITpuWhGBgAJ

[Gurcharan Singh]

Better images of V. polita here

https://groups.google.com/g/indiantreepix/c/KV8xLo9NdmM/m/rXpGrDkfF0MJ

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Dear Gurcharan Ji,

Thanks for the definitive identification

With sincere regards

Taffazull

[taffa...@gmail.com]

One more photo of V.stewarti flower (Kashmiri name "Zow Ghas" )

Flower seen from front. I have intentionally not cropped the photo so that the actual size of the flower is emphasized

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Sorry, It should be V.stewartii

Regards

Taffazull