Ophiorrhiza nicobarica N. P. Balakrishnan 1980
Creators: name: Hareesh, Vadakkoot Sankaran
name: Sabu, Mamiyil
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Gentianales
Rubiaceae
Ophiorrhiza
Ophiorrhiza nicobarica

description: 4. Ophiorrhiza nicobarica N.P. Balakrishnan (1980: 411). (Figure 5)   
 Type: — INDIA. Great Nicobar Island; South Nicobar, 17 km from Campbell Bay to Alexandra River, ± 75 m a.s.l. 21 August 1975, N. P. Balakrishnan PBL3027 A (Holotype CAL0000010862!; Isotypes PBL3027 B [CAL0000010863!], PBL3027 F, PBL3027 H, PBL3027 G).   
 Erect herbs, 15–45 cm tall; stem decumbent, branched, woody at base, terete, densely pubescent; internodes 2.5–7 cm long. Stipules linear with broadened base, 3–5 mm long, apex acuminate, entire, acute at apex, hispid, persistent. Petioles 2–4 cm long, slender, pale green, pubescent; leaf blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2.5–13 × 1.5–6 cm, acute to acuminate at apex, acute to attenuate at base, green, densely pubescent adaxially, abaxially pale green, glabrous except densely pubescent secondary veins; secondary veins 6–12 pairs on each side. Inflorescence terminal sub-corymbose cyme, 2.5–3.5 cm in diameter; peduncle up to 3 cm long in flowering and elongated up to 7 cm long in fruiting, slender, hispid; bract and bracteoles similar, linear, 3–5 mm long, puberulent, persistent. Pedicels 1.75–2 mm long, densely pubescent. Flowers 12–16 mm long, white. Hypanthium cup shaped, 1.5–2 × 1–1.35 mm, hispid; disc 0.75–1 mm tall. Calyx lobes linear, 4–5 × 0.3 mm, reddish, acute at apex, adaxially hispid, abaxially glabrous. Corolla narrowly infundibuliform, 10–14 mm long, white, pubescent outside, glabrous inside with a ring of villous hairs just below the middle; lobes ovate, 2.75–3 × 1.75–2.25 mm, acute at apex, shortly keeled on back, reflexed. Short-styled flowers 12– 15 mm long: stamens 7.5–9.5 mm long, inserted just above the base of corolla tube below the villous ring; filaments 5.5–6.5 mm long, white, glabrous; anthers oblong-linear, 2–3 mm long, pale yellow; style filiform, 5.5–6 mm long, glabrous; style branches 2, ovate-lanceolate, 1.75–2 × c. 0.5 mm, papillose. Long-styled flowers 12–16 mm long: stamens 3.5–6.5 mm long, inserted just above the base of the corolla tube below the villous ring; filaments 1.5–3.5mm long, white, glabrous; anthers oblong-linear, 2–3 mm long, pale yellow; style filiform, 12–14 mm long, filiform, white, glabrous; style branches 2, linear-lanceolate, 2.25–2.5 mm long, glabrous. Ovary 2-celled, ovules numerous. Capsule obcordate, 5–8 × 4–11 mm, with persistent calyx lobes, hirsute; seeds many, angular.   
  Specimens examined:—  India. Great Nicobar Island: 17 km on East-West road ± 75 m a.s.l. 29 July 1976, N. P. Balakrishnan 4073 (PBL!); Great Nicobar Island; 17 km on East-West road ± 75 m a.s.l. 02 December 1975, P. Chakraborty 3232 (PBL!); Great Nicobar Island; 37 km on East-West road, Path to Shompen Village, ± 75 m a.s.l. 23 July 1976, N. P. Balakrishnan 3980 (PBL!); Great Nicobar Island; Great Nicobar Island; 25 June km East-West road, 14 October 1979, D. K. Hore 6797 (PBL!); Great Nicobar Island; near Galathea bridge on East-West road, ± 100 m a.s.l., 06 December 1978, G. K. Nair 7179 (PBL!); 16 km on East-West road, 15 November 1993, B. K. Sinha 16350 (PBL!).   
  Phenology:—  Flowering form June to October, fruiting from September to December.   
  Distribution, habitat and ecology:—  Ophiorrhiza nicobarica grows in Galathea river village, path to Shompen Village, 16 km onwards to 37 km East-West road in moist shady areas and along the Alexandra riverside between 65–100 m a.s.l. The majour threat we observed was that the natural calamities like land slides, tsunami etc. and developmental activities eroded most of the areas, which badly affected the natural population.   
  Notes:—  The specimen collected by B.K. Sinha (PBL16350) and deposited in PBL of O. nicobarica was misidentified as O. mungos. Shompens, the tribal communities in the Great Nicobar Island use the leaves of O. nicobarica as antiseptic for wounds, the pastes of the leaves applied locally on infected parts [P. Chakraborty 3232 (PBL!)].
description: Published as part of Hareesh, Vadakkoot Sankaran & Sabu, Mamiyil, 2018, The genus Ophiorrhiza (Rubiaceae) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India with a new species, pp. 259-272 in Phytotaxa 383 (3) on pages 266-269, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.383.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/13725909