Campanula densiciliata Acharya Balkrishna, Harsh Singh, B. Joshi & R. K. Mishra, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Balkrishna, Acharya
name: Singh, Harsh
name: Joshi, Bhasker
name: Srivastava, Anupam
name: Kumar, Aashish
name: Kumar, Amit
name: Vats, Prashant
name: Singh, Vikram
name: Mishra, Rajesh Kumar
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asterales
Campanulaceae
Campanula
Campanula densiciliata

description: Campanula densiciliata Acharya Balkrishna, Harsh Singh, B.Joshi & R.K.Mishra sp. nov. (Figs. 1–3, 4)
Type:— INDIA: Uttarakhand. Yamunotri, Kharsali village, 28 Aug. 2023, 2800 m, Harsh Singh & Aashish Kumar 9336 (Holotype PRFH; Isotype BSD).
Diagnosis:— Campanula densiciliata shares similarities with C. argyrotricha, but it differs in sinuate leaves, rounded leaf base, reduced, crenate calyx teeth (less than half of the corolla), elliptic corolla lobes, and different lengths of stigmatic lobes (vs. dentate, crenate to serrate leaves, attenuate or cuneate base, entire calyx teeth half as long as corolla with entire or dentate margin and oblongoblanceolate to oblong-obovate corolla lobes, where stigmatic lobes are equally placed in C. argyrotricha. It is also similar to C. latifolia Linnaeus (1753: 165) but differs in ovate-elliptic, small (1.8–2.8 × 1.7–2.2 cm) leaves, solitary, terminal inflorescence, small flower c. 2.8 cm long, anther 1.4 mm long, stigmatic lobes with two different lengths (vs. lanceolate to ovate, large (12 × 7 cm) leaves, inflorescence on the axils of upper leaves forming a raceme, large flower 3–4 cm long, anther 8-11 mm long, same length stigmatic lobe).
Description:—Decumbent to erect, 70–80 cm long, annual, herbs. Root fibrous. Leaves sparse, ovate-elliptic, 1.8–2.8 × 1.7–2.2 cm, apex obtuse to rounded, base rounded, margin sinuate, pubescent; with very sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, petiole 0.8–2.0 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Inflorescence terminal solitary cyme. Bracts foliaceous, ovate, 2.3 × 0.9 mm, densely pubescent at margin but few hairs on both surfaces. Flower solitary, 2.8 × 2.1 cm, pendulous, blue, terminal, pedicels 4–5 mm long, porrect, later deflexed. Hypanthium 0.4 × 0.3 mm, outer surface densely pubescent. Calyx 5, adnate to ovary, 6.3–7.2 × 1.3–16 mm; calyx teeth 5, subulate, apex acute, margin crenate, densely pubescent on margins. Corolla tube campanulate, blue or lilac, 5-lobed; corolla lobes, 4.6–5.8 × 2.7–3.3 mm, apex acute to acuminate. margin wavy, densely ciliate. Stamens 5, filaments dilated, c. 4.5 mm long, base triangular, densely hairy, anther 1.4 × 1.0 mm long, coherent, bright yellow. Ovary globose, c. 1.3 mm, glabrous, shiny green; style 1, 11.0 to 13 mm long, stigmatic lobes 3; two different lengths (two small c. 0.4 mm) and one large c. 0.8 mm). Capsule ovoid to ellipsoid, c. 0.5 × 0.2 mm long; seeds many, ellipsoid.
Phenology:—August-September.
Etymology:—The specific epithet ‘densiciliata’ is derived from its densely hairy margin of the calyx lobes.
Habitat & Distribution:— Campanula densiciliata grows in humus-rich soil in the dense forest undergrowth of Rhododendron Linnaeus (1753: 392), along with plant species of Fragaria nubicola (Hook.f.) Lindl. ex Lacaita (Lacaita 1916: 467), Anemone Linnaeus (1753: 538), Stellaria Linnaeus (1753: 421) and Parnassia nubicola Wall. ex Royle (Royle 1835: 227). So far, the new species has been found only from type locality Kharsali, Yamunotri (Uttarakhand).
description: Published as part of Balkrishna, Acharya, Singh, Harsh, Joshi, Bhasker, Srivastava, Anupam, Kumar, Aashish, Kumar, Amit, Vats, Prashant, Singh, Vikram & Mishra, Rajesh Kumar, 2024, A new species of Campanula L. (Campanulaceae) from Western Himalaya, India, pp. 227-234 in Phytotaxa 652 (3) on pages 231-233, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.652.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/13216777