Rosa machailensis K. Singh, Harsh Singh, Y. P. Sharma & S. Gairola 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Singh, Kanwaljeet
name: Singh, Harsh
name: Sharma, Yash Pal
name: Gairola, Sumeet
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Rosales
Rosaceae
Rosa
Rosa machailensis

description: Rosa machailensis K. Singh, Harsh Singh, Y.P. Sharma & S. Gairola sp. nov. (Figs. 2, 3)
Type:— INDIA, Jammu & Kashmir, Kishtwar District, subdivision Paddar, 1914 m, 33˚15.60ˈN, 076˚09.63ˈE, 10 September 2018, K. Singh & S. Gairola 24000 (holotype, RRLH, isotype, RRLH).
Diagnosis:— Rosa machailensis closely resembles to R. moschata in its inflorescence type, connate and exerted style but, differs in having acute leaflet apex (vs acuminate), long stipules with densely glandular margins (vs short, eglandular or sparsely glandular margins) and long auricles, prickles with broad base (vs short and narrow base), petals with mucronate and incised apex (vs emarginated apex), high number (19–36) of flowers per inflorescence (vs 8–12), small size of hips (pseudo fruit) (vs comparatively large size), thick pollen exine with discontinuous ridges (vs comparatively thin exine and continuous ridges) and broad grooves on its surface along with the presences of verrucae (vs narrow grooves and absence of verrucae) (Table 1, 2).
Description:— A scandent shrub, 3.5 m in height. Young branches glabrous and greenish, older stem glabrous, dark brown. Branchlets greenish to red-brown, arching, glabrous. Prickles small, 0.8–1.1 cm, faintly curved to hooked; abruptly tapering to a broad base. Young shoots green, prickly. Leaves compound, 5–12 cm long, alternate with 3-7 leaflets, variable in size, 3–6 cm, long, oblong-lanceolate, young leaves reddish, base cuneate to sub-rounded, margin hairy, serrate in the upper half, base entire, abaxial surface with dense hairs and pale green, adaxially surface sparsely pubescent and darker green, apex acute. Rachis hairy and glandular, abaxially having sparse curved prickles. Petiole hairy and glandular. Stipules adnate to petiole, broad, 2–3.7 cm long, free parts (auricles) diverticulate, 0.8–1.5 cm long, margin glandular and hairy, apex acute. Inflorescence terminal compound corymb. Pedicels 1.5–2.9 cm in length, densely glandular and sparsely hairy, longer than hypanthium; Hypanthium ovoid, 0.5–1 cm, densely glandular and hairy, eglandular and subglabrous after anthesis. Bract lanceolate, a unifoliolate leaf at the base of the inflorescence, 2– 2.7 cm. Bracteoles 2, apex acute, margins glandular, sparsely hairy on abaxial and adaxial surface, 1–1.5 cm. Flowers numerous, 5.1–5.9 cm in diameter. Sepals 5, 2–3 cm long, lanceolate, acuminate, adaxially glandular and abaxially hairy, with 2 to 4 pinnae, green, deciduous. Petals 5, broadly obovate, 2.4–4.8 long, emarginate, mucronate or incised, base cuneate, white, fragrant. Stamens numerous, filaments 1.2–1.5 cm, glabrous; anthers linear, 2 mm. Style, pilose, 1.5–1.7 cm, connate into column, exserted, pubescent, orifice narrow, stigma capitate. Hips (pseudo-fruit) orange when unripe or dark red at maturity, ovoid to sub-globose, 0.4–0.6 cm in diameter, glabrous, shiny. Achenes 2.8–3.2 mm long.
Pollen morphology:— Pollen tricolporate, circular, striae wide, absent at some places on the exine surface, Size: medium; P – 36.16 µm (24.12–43.15 µm); E – 28.12 µm (16.42–38.76 µm); P/E ratio:1.21 (0.46–1.30), sub prolate. Exine: thickness1.59µm (1.54–2.11). Length of ectocolpi: 32.11 µm (20.12-39.06). Apocolpium index (PAI): 0.45µm. Aperture: ectocolpi 3 and sharpely tapering, width slightly wider in the equatorial region. Sculpturing of ectocolpus membrane is granular. The comparative pollen morphology of R. machailensis and R. moschata is presented in Fig. 4.
Phenology:— Flowering from April to May; fruiting from May to October.
Habitat and Distribution:— The new species was found growing on the steep rock surface and sloppy places near forest area of Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D. Don) G. Don (1830: 388) in the Atholi of district Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir between altitudes of 1914-2150 m a.s.l. The associated plant species found growing in close proximity with the species were Rumex nepalensis Spreng. (Sprengel 1825: 159), Trifolium pratense Linnaeus (1753: 768), Cedrus deodara (Roxb. D. Don) G. Don, Indigofera tinctoria L. (1753: 751), Flacourtia indica (Burm.f.) Merr. (Merril, 1917: 377), etc.
Etymology:— The specific epithet “ machailensis ” refers to the type locality, Machail which is a holy place in Subdivision Paddar, Kishtwar district, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
Conservation status:— The new species is currently known only from a single locality. We have located thirteen mature individuals during the field surveys within the forest area of the study area which covers an area of 26 km 2. The investigation has not been extensive enough to properly comprehend species distribution. As a result, it is classified as Data Deficient (DD) here, according to the IUCN Red List Categories version 14 (2019). However, further thorough studies in similar habitats and microenvironments in nearby areas are required to ascertain its distribution in other parts of the region for a better knowledge of its population size, area of occupancy, and range of occurrence.
description: Published as part of Singh, Kanwaljeet, Singh, Harsh, Sharma, Yash Pal & Gairola, Sumeet, 2022, Rosa machailensis (Rosaceae), a new species from Jammu and Kashmir, India, pp. 79-85 in Phytotaxa 567 (1) on pages 80-82, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.567.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/7138033