Berberis chitria Buch.-Ham. ex Lindl. submission AS6 June 2023

[Ashutosh Sharma]

Dear members,

Here's a new addition to eFloraofIndia website

Berberis chitria Buch.-Ham. ex Lindl.

Family - Berberidaceae 

Photographed in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh

Elevation - 2100 metres 

Flowering - May to June & Fruiting - September

This species (B. chitria) is not uncommon in Western Himalayas and surprisingly some of the images of this sp. are already present on our website but are misidentified under page Berberis aristata DC., which is a quite different species and can be distinguished easily from B. chitria based on the below provided key. 

Berberis chitria is characterized by loosely corymbose-paniculate inflorescence, with some basal flowers usually born in group of three, dark reddish-brown young shoot/branch & peduncle and having oblong-ellipsoid red to brownish ripened berries.

While Berberis aristata is characterized by 8 - 25 flowered raceme inflorescence having no flowers in the group of three, young branch & peduncle brownish - green never red and fruit ovoid to oblong-ovoid, bright red to slightly pruinose blue berries.

By tomorrow I will try to comment individually on earlier misidentified posts of B. chitria present on our website.

Thanks!

With best regards

Ashutosh Sharma 

[Mahadeswara]

Beautiful upload with narration !

[Saroj Kasaju]

For reference : 

Thank you.

Saroj Kasaju

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[Nidhan Singh]

Lovely pics Ashutosh Ji..

Great..

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks a lot, Ashutosh ji

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[J.M. Garg]

Hi, Ashutosh ji,

POWO gives it as a syn. of Berberis aristata DC. I think it may be based on 'Adhikari, B., Pendry, C.A., Pennington, R.T. & Milne, R.I. (2012). A revision of Berberis s.s. (Berberidaceae) in Nepal. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 69: 477-522'

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[Ashutosh Sharma]

Dear Garg ji,

This recent change in POWO and IPNI is recent and is actually a result of my personal discussion with Dr. Julian Harber as earlier POWO used to give same result what gbif still gives i.e. - Berberis chitria Buch.-Ham. ex Lindl. as accepted name.

There are some nomenclature and type validation issues with the name Berberis chitria, however the plant I have post d is absolutely not true Berberis aristata DC. so for the time being we resolve the nomenclature issues and validate the name I recommend you to please keep my submission only under name B. chitria ignoring POWO.

Thanks & regards

Ashutosh Sharma

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks, Ashutosh ji

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[gurinder goraya]

Dear all,

I agree with Ashutosh. Berberis chitria is a very distinct species and should be treated as a distinct taxa, and not under B. aristata. In addition to the differences from B. aristata pointed out by Ashutosh, leaves of B. chitria are glossy green, sour in taste and sometimes used to make 'chutney'. The description and drawing of B. aristata as given in Flora Simlensis seems to be that of B. chitria. There are issues with its type validation, and correct author citation, which need early resolution.  

Regards,

Dr. G S Goraya, IFS (Retd.)

735-B, Joginder Vihar, Army Flats, Phase-2 (Sector-54),

SAS Nagar, Mohali - 160 055 (Punjab)

Tel. (Mob.) +91-941-802-5036

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From: indian...@googlegroups.com <indian...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ashutosh Sharma <ashutoshs...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2023 9:16 PM
To: J.M. Garg <jmg...@gmail.com>
Cc: efloraofindia <indian...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:450397] Berberis chitria Buch.-Ham. ex Lindl. submission AS6 June 2023

 

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[Ashutosh Sharma]

Thanks Dr. Goraya sir and Garg ji.

With regards

Ashutosh Sharma 

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[J.M. Garg]

If so, I request Ashutosh ji, to bifurcate our existing posts. 

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[Bhaskar Adhikari]

Dear Ashutosh ji,

 

Many thanks for posting the photos of Berberis. When I revised Nepalese Berberis, I found B. aristata is the most common species that grows across the Himalayas, and was also introduced to many countries as a garden plant. It shows a great range of variations, and I also found some putative hybrids in the wild. Therefore, sometimes the species boundaries are not that clear, and botanists ended up describing a new taxon. It has also been a dumping ground for many other species, you have probably already seen other Berberis species identified as B. aristata.

 

Back to B. aristata and B. chitria, we synonymised B. chitria under aristata as both of these names are based on Buchanan Hamilton’s collections from Central Nepal (more detail in our 2012 paper). I have observed the populations in the type locality, and all of them look like the ones you posted. However, I haven’t looked at all the details of your B. chitria flower. I think some specimens identified as B. aristata/chitria are actually B. glaucocarpa, and few need a thorough investigation which could turn up as a new taxon (Notes in our 2012 paper under B. aristata).

 

I think B. chitria should be treated as a synonym under B. aristata but all other associated varieties/taxa merit thorough investigation. It would be good if someone study the B. aristata complex to crack it down which is not an easy job. I think Julian is the best person to lead on this (cc’d here), and taxonomists like you who are actively looking at the populations in the wild could make a significant contribution to the study. I would be very happy to share my photos and notes on Nepalese Berberis, feel free to write to me if you have any questions or queries.

Regards

Bhaskar

 

 

From: J.M. Garg <jmg...@gmail.com>

Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2023 4:48 PM
To: Ashutosh Sharma <ashutoshs...@gmail.com>
Cc: efloraofindia <indian...@googlegroups.com>

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[J.M. Garg]

Thanks a lot, Bhaskar ji

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[Ashutosh Sharma]

Thanks Dr. Bhaskar Adhikari ji for your detailed comments.

Garg ji I completely agree with Dr. Bhaskar Adhikari's opinion and infact I and Julian Harber are already working on resolving this century old nomenclature issue's with the identity of Berberis aristata and allied sp. in Western Himalayan region. So until we come up with a publication, Garg ji you may please keep my this submission under Berberis aristata DC. page on efloraofIndia website. 

I will comment and bifurcate the other postings under B. aristata page (that are actually not B. aristata) only after our publication.

Thanks & regards

Ashutosh Sharma

[J.M. Garg]

Ok, Ashutosh ji

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With regards,
J. M. Garg