Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. B, 36(4), pp. 155–159, November 22, 2010

A New, Pink-brown Ophioglossum (Ophioglossaceae) from India
Banwari L. Yadav1 and Hit K. Goswami2,*1

Department of Botany, M L V Government College, Bhilwara, Rajasthan, India
224, Kaushalnagar, Bhopal, India* E-mail: hkgbhopal@hotmail.com(Received 30 July 2010; accepted 22 Sept. 2010)

Abstract A new species of Ophioglossum, O. indicum, is described from Rajasthan, India. Theplants are smaller than most congeners and have pinkish trophophylls and spike-stalks when young.
The trophophylls become brownish green except the pinkish-brown margins at maturity, while thespike-stalks remain pink. The species is also characterized by the spore wall structure and stomatal
distribution.
Key words : Ophioglossum indicum, Ophioglossaceae, India, spore.

Introduction
The genus Ophioglossum L. is the most specialized in the eusporangiate fern family Ophioglossaceae. The family comprises three conventional
genera, Botrychium, Helminthostachys, andOphioglossum (Clausen, 1938; Wagner, 1990)
and the recently discovered genus Mankyua (Sunet al., 2001). Ophioglossum is characterized by
the usually simple but rarely lobed trophophyll(vegetative leaf) with a spike (sporophyll) bearing two rows of sporangia. The lobed species are
sometimes segregated in different genera, i.e.,
Ophioderma (O. pendulum) and Cheiroglossa (O.
palmatum). Ophioglossum palmatum is alsocharacterized by the multiple fertile spikes, and afew other species are devoid of the chlorophyllous trophophylls (Goswami, 2007). The cosmopolitan Ophioglossum includes about 45 or
more species. In all species, like other plantgroups, the trophophyll, if any, is green to dark or
light green at maturity and produces a paler spike(Wieffering, 1964; Dixit, 1984; Khullar, 1994;
Goswami, 1987, 2008; Sharma et al., 2008).
However, Goswami (1987, 2008) has mentioned
the pink to brown basal part of the trophophoreand spike-stalk in plants of O. lusitanicum L.

Burrows and Jones (2001) have also seen pinkstipes in O. polyphyllum but as a rare feature.
We have found a population of plants withpink to brown leaves in Mainal Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India. No other pinkish plants are seen inO. costatum R.Br., O. gramineum Willd., O.
nudicaule L., O. petiolatum Hook., O. polyphyllum A.Br. ex Seub., O. reticulatum L. and O. vulgatum L. occurring in Rajasthan, India (Gena,1998; Yadav and Tripathi, 2002; Sharma et al.,2008). From morphological comparison withthese and other congeners, we conclude that thisplant population is recognizable as a new species.
Description and Comparison
Ophioglossum indicum B. L. Yadav &H. K. Goswami, sp. nov.
A congenris plantis subroseis differt; O. lusitanici plantis parvis simile, sed spora lata differt;
ab O. costatis costa vix visibili; ab O. vultatis
trophophyllo basi cuneato differt.
Typus. Village area Mainal (Chittorgarh), Rajasthan, India, B. L. Yadav 3011, 14 Aug 2009
(holotype, Herbarium of MLV Government College, Bhilwara, Rajasthan; isotypes, Bionature

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Banwari L. Yadav and Hit K. Goswami

Figs. 1–5. Ophioglossum indicum and spores. Figs. 1–3. Plants of O. indicum in nature. The mature fertile spike,trophophyll margin, and trophophyll stalk are tinted pink. Fig. 4. Herbarium specimen (B. L. Yadav 3011 inTNS). Fig. 5. Spores in light microscopy. Spores were released and mounted in glycerin jelly. Spores havetriradiate mark, and verrucose exine is covered by distinct perine.

Pink-colored Ophioglossum

157Figs. 6–9. SEM images of O. indicum spores. Spores were attached to specimen stubs, ion-sputtered with gold,
and observed using a Keyence VE-7800 microscope at 20 kV. Figs. 6, 7. Polar views of proximal face ofexine: spores artificially crashed. Fig. 6. Whole spores with long and thickened laesurae on verrucose surface. Fig. 7. Numerous depressed areoles are united into negative reticulation. Figs. 8, 9. Polar views of distal
face of exine. A. Whole spore. B. Part of spore showing cracked perine (marked by right arrow) and tapetal
residue (left arrow).

herbarium, Bhopal, and National Museum ofNature and Science Herbarium [TNS]).
Plants 2.5–3.6 cm in height; rhizome subglobose or knob-shaped, 0.4–0.6 cm tall, produced
adventitiously from creeping roots, resulting in acolony; trophophyll generally single, sometimes
two per rhizome per season, elliptic or ellipticlanceolate, thick, entire, acute, without midrib,
pink in color at youth and green-brownish except
at margin at maturity; fertile spike inserted on
adaxial side of trophophyll under trophophylllamina, pink in color throughout, sterile stalk
1.1–1.2 cm long, distal fertile part of stalk
0.4–0.6 cm long, ending with minute sterile tip,

sporangia 7–10 on either side, globose, embedded. Spores in LM globose, trilete, 16–28 m m inequatorial diameter with four layers; perine(perispore) distinct covering all over spore surface, exine (exospore) well defined, thick withverruca-like sculpture, endexine (mesospore)thick, but intine (endspore) smooth, simple; inSEM, exine surface proximally verrucose withmany minute pits, distally with many depressed
areoles united into negative reticulation (Figs.
1–10).
Reproductive period: July–August.
Locality: Mainal, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India.
Ecology: Grows in dense colony in flat damp

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Banwari L. Yadav and Hit K. Goswami

Fig. 10. SEM image of O. indicum ventral mesophyll near tip of trophophyll with epidermis peeled off, showing
isodiametric irregular cells with small pedunculate hair-like structures.

grassy area, along with O. costatum, O. nudicaule, O. eliminatum, and O. lusitanicum (Fig.
1). The O. indicum plants, which can be easily
identified by the leaf color, grow intermixed withgreen congeners, e.g., O. lusitanicum, O. costatum and O. eliminatum in Mainal locality (District Chittorgarh).
Status: Exclusively restricted to Mainal area,
Chittorgarh.
Notes: Ophioglossum indicum is remarkable in
the pink leaf (Figs. 1–3). The young pink
trophophyll-lamina except at the margin and sterile stalk gradually turns brownish green toward
maturity, associated with increased photosynthetic activity. In other species, color change is complete.
In light microscopy (LM, see figure legend formethod), the spores are globose and trilete with asmall triradiate mark (laesurae) not extending to
the margins (Fig. 5), sometimes divided (Goswami, 2007). In scanning microscopy (SEM, seefigure legend for methods), the laesural arms are
crassimarginate, like in O. lusitanicum but also
sometimes sinuous, like in O. costatum (Goswami and Khandelwal, 1973; Pant et al., 1995;
Goswami, 2007). The proximal surface is verru-

cose and has many minute depressions (Figs. 6and 7). The distal face is granulose to verrucate(verrucose) in light microscopy, but in SEM thedepressed areoles are united into negative reticulation (Figs. 8 and 9). In LM, the perine(perispore) is thick and covers the exine, which isthick and verrucose (Fig. 5), like in O. costatum,
but the latter species does not have a distinct perine.
Ophioglossum eliminatum Khandelwal &Goswami incidentally occurs together with O.
indicum. However, the spores of O. eliminatum
show a thick apex of triradiate mark sometimes
looking like a raised knob, and the exine is very
thick and warty (verruca-like sculpture). By contrast, such a thick perine around every spore as inO. indicum is not found in any other congeners
except in some spores of O. eliminatum.
Ophioglossum indicum resembles O. lusitanicum and O. nudicaule in the size range of small
plants and O. costatum in having spores withthick exine, but differs in having a very widely
covering perine. Also, O. indicum has no obvious
midvein in the trophophyll, while O. costaum
always has an obvious midvein. The O. indicum
spores show many depressed areoles united intoPink-colored Ophioglossum

negative reticulation on the distal face. Furthermore, O. indicum totally differs from O. vulgatum in the shape and size of trophophyll andcolor of plants.
The ventral mesophyll of the trophophyll iscomposed of irregularly packed rectangular toisodiametric cells with hair-like pedunculate outgrowths. There are only a few stomata in the ventral epidermis, but stomata are numerous in thedorsal epidermis (Fig. 10). In the mesophyll histology O. indicum is distinct in the genus.
In summary, O. indicum is characterized by thepink plant and the spores with thick exine widely
covered by thick perine.
Acknowledgments
One of us (HKG) is grateful to Professor andHead of the Department of Botany, Burdwan
University, Burdwan, West Bengal for facilities
and Shri Kaushik Sarkar, a senior Research Fellow of the Department for light microscopic photography. HKG is also indebted to Prof. Dr. A. K.
Bhattacharya, Head USIC Burdwan University
for SEM facilities and Dr. Chakraborty to extend
his genuine help. We are grateful to Dr. M. Kato,
National Museum of Nature and Science (Tsukuba, Japan) and Dr. N. Sahashi, Toho University(Funabashi, Japan) for critical reading of themanuscript with useful suggestions, and Dr. N.
Sahashi for assistance with SEM micrographicaltechniques for spore observations.
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