Lepidagathis WILLD. FROM
Creators: name: Dhatchanamoorthy, Narayanasamy
name: Karthikeyan, Chinnasamy
name: Raja, Prakasam
name: Soosairaj, Sebastian
name: Balachandran, Natesan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Lamiales
Acanthaceae
Lepidagathis

description: KEY TO THE GENUS LEPIDAGATHIS WILLD. FROM TAMIL NADU
1. Prostrate-decumbent herb, capsule 2-seeded ................................................................................................ 2
— Erect subshrub, capsule 4-seeded ................................................................................................................. 8
2. Leaf margin or apex spinous tipped ............................................................................................................. 3 Leaf margin entire or toothed, apex mucronate ........................................................................................... 4
3. Leaves lanceolate, margin entire, one spine only at apex .......................................... L. spinosa Wight ex Nees
— Leaves ovate-oblong, margin and apex spinous tipped ....................................................... L. barberi Gamble
4. Spike aggregated only at lower nodes ........................................................................................................... 5
— Spike at axils of leafy and leafless stem ......................................................................................................... 7
5. Leaves> 3 cm long, lateral nerves 5-7 pairs .................................................................. L. hamiltoniana Wall.
— Leaves <3 cm long, lateral nerves 3-5 pairs ................................................................................................. 6
6. Leaves scabrous along the nerves beneath, margin ciliate ........................................................ L. mitis Dalzell
— Leaves glabrous on both sides, margin entire to toothed ....................................................... L. cristata Willd.
7. Spike globose-ovoid, internodes long to 3 cm ................................................................ L.diffusa C.B. Clarke
— Spike elongate and unilateral, internodes short to 1 cm ......... L. decumbens N. Dhatchan. & S. Soosairaj, sp. nov.
8. Bract and calyx lobes single nerved, bract margin hyaline ....................................................... L. hyalina Nees
— Bract and calyx lobes 3-7 nerved, bract scarious or coriaceous ..................................................................... 9
9. Bract scarious, lower calyx lobes 3-ribbed, upper 7-ribbed ...................................................... L. scariosa Nees
— Bract coriaceous, calyx lobes 3-ribbed ........................................................................................................ 10
10. Flowers in soft, condensed spike, leaves crenate-serrate ........................................... L. fasciculata (Retz.) Nees
— Flowers in elongate spike, villous, leaves entire or undulate ................................................. L. cuspidata Nees
description: Published as part of Dhatchanamoorthy, Narayanasamy, Karthikeyan, Chinnasamy, Raja, Prakasam, Soosairaj, Sebastian & Balachandran, Natesan, 2022, Lepidagathis decumbens N. Dhatchan. & S. Soosairaj, sp. nov. (Acanthaceae), a new species from Tamil Nadu, India, pp. 321-329 in Adansonia (3) (3) 44 (24) on page 328, DOI: 10.5252/adansonia2022v44a24, http://zenodo.org/record/7254723