Dicliptera roxburghiana and Dicliptera roxburghiana var. bupleuroides

[J.M. Garg]

Let us analyse both species again (I could not find var. riparia in IBIS Flora for FBI details, but POWO gives distribution in Nepal only):

Dicliptera roxburghiana var. bupleuroides (Nees) C.B.Clarke:
FBI:
Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. 111, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 485, excl. syn. Roxb, (sp.) ; leaves ovate or elliptic acute or acuminate glabrous or somewhat pubescent, flower-clusters dense axillary and terminal mostly sessile, bracts linear or linear-oblong nearly parallel-sided acuminate cuspidate, D. cardiocarpa, Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Bar. iii. 111, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 480. D. hirtula, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 485. D. Roxburghii, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 519, chiefly. D. Roxburghiana, Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 526, not of Nees. D. rupestris, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 486. D. crinita, Nees l. c. 485, as to the Indian examples so named by Nees. Justicia chinensis, Wall. Cat. 2466, letter B, C partly ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 125, Obs. only. J. canescens, Wall. Cat. 2423.

Throughout India in the hills, alt. 1-6000 ft., abundant in the north, becoming rare in the Malabar Ghauts ; in the Himalaya from Kashmir to Upper Assam and the Chittagong Hills ; Mt. Aboo, Stocks ; Central India. Distrib. Afghanistan.

A large very uniform series, varying only slightly in the pubescence of the bracts. In the extreme forms the bracts are 3/4 by 1/16 in., glistening ciliate, and in some of Beddome’s Malabar specimens they are almost subulate. Though the bracts are often broader than in these, the plant as a whole is tolerably well separable from D. Roxburghiana.

FoP illustration  POWO  Keys in Flora of China


Dicliptera roxburghiana Nees:
FBI:

Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. 111, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 483, excl. syn. ; leaves elliptic acute obscurely pubescent or glabrate, flower-clusters axillary and terminal sessile more rarely shortly peduncled, bracts cuneate-elliptic or obovate apiculate not acuminate. T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 519, partly ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 196 ?. Justicia chinensis, Wall. Cat. 2466, letter D, and part B, C.

Plains of N. INDIA, from the Punjab to Assam, Silhet and E. Bengal, frequent. BHOTAN ; Griffith.

Stems 1-3 ft., elongate, nearly glabrous. Leaves 2.1/2 by 1 in., base cuneate ; petiole 1/4 in. Bracts nearly 1/2 by 1/5 in., often 3-nerved, ciliate, thinly pubescent. Corolla 3/4 in. Capsule 1/4 in., clavate, puberulous or glabrous. Seeds conspicuously verrucose.—The whole of the plains form of B. Roxburghiana differs from Var. bupleuroides in the broader, more or less obovate, bracts. Nees founded his species on the common Assam and E. Bengal plant, and the original ticket on his type specimen is marked Assam. Bentham, however (in Fl. Hongk. 266), says this was an error, and that this type specimen came from the Calcutta Botanic Garden ; but it is not known how Bentham discovered this. Nees, however, is in error in citing Roxburgh’s Justicia chinensis, for Roxburgh’s Ic. Ined, proves this to have been the true plant, long cultivated at Calcutta.

FoC illustration  POWO  Keys in Flora of China

Thus clear distinction is in the bracts (linear or linear-oblong nearly parallel-sided acuminate cuspidate in bupleuroides & more or less obovate, bracts in roxburghiana) and distribution (Throughout India in the hills, alt. 1-6000 ft., abundant in the north in bupleuroides & Plains of N. INDIA, from the Punjab to Assam, Silhet and E. Bengal, frequent in roxburghiana).

I will work on these lines to analyse our postings again.

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[Gurcharan Singh]

Let us keep it D. chinensis vs D. buplleurioides now, as both COL and POWO treat D. roxburghiana as synonym of D. chinensis

[Gurcharan Singh]

D. bupleuroides:  Outer bracteoles oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 mm, more than twice as long as broad; crorolla 5 mm long

D. chinensis: Outer bracteoles 5-13 mm long, less than twice as long as broad; corolla 10-12 mm long.

 Longer corolla is very distinctive in latter