An annotated checklist of endemic plants from Haveri District, Karnataka

CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 1 of 11 An annotated checklist of endemic plants from Haveri District, Karnataka Ningaraj S Makanur*, Kotresha K ABSTRACT The Haveri district is a gateway for the northern districts of Karnataka. The present documentation reveals a total of 46 endemic taxa belonging to 24 families, were enlisted along with their botanical name, family, habit, phenology, and IUCN status. Distributional analysis showed that Western Ghats (WG) elements were dominant (40%) with 18 taxa, followed by, Indian endemics (16), Southern India (6) and Peninsular India (3) and 3 taxa narrowly endemic to Karnataka. The family Acanthaceae harbours the maximum (6) endemic taxa. Critically Endangered (CR) species Ceropegia bhatii S.R.Yadav & Shendage, find its extended distributional record next to its type locality. Hence the forests of the districts need special attention for conservation. Keywords: Endemic flora; Threatened plants; Extended distribution, Conservation, Diversity, Karnataka 1. INTRODUCTION Endemic species are completely dependent on a unique geographical area for their survival and are most vulnerable to their restricted ranges (Myers, 1988). Globally ‘botanically interesting’ areas are rich in endemics (Richardson, 1978). The endemism in the flora of a country or geographical region provides an important insight into that region's biogeography and the centres of diversity and adaptive evolution of the floristic components of that region (Nayar, 1996). Regions with high concentrations of endemic species are classified as ‘Biodiversity Hotspots’ by the Conservational International (CI). Out of the 34 global hotspots, the following four hotspots (viz, 1. Indo-Burma, 2. Himalaya, 3. The Western Ghats, and 4. The Sundaland) fall within the Indian political boundaries (Mittermeier et al., 2004). India possesses abundant biodiversity owing to its larger climatic and topographic gradient. Indian forests cover 22.5% of the country’s geographical area Chitale et al., (2014), representing 11% of the world’s flora in about 2.4% of the global land mass. An early report by accounted for about 20,074 taxa of angiosperms from India, approximately 5752 (29%) of the total Indian flora and 33% of angiosperms occurring in the country are endemic (Nayar, 1996; Irwin and Narasimhan, 2011). Roy et al., (2013) observed that highly fragmented forests across the Indian landscape Species To Cite: Makanur NS, Kotresha K. An annotated checklist of endemic plants from Haveri District, Karnataka. Species 2024; 25: e21s1659 doi: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v25i75.e21s1659 Author Affiliation: Taxonomy and Floristic Laboratory, Department of UG, PG and Research in Botany, Karnatak University’s, Karnatak Science College, Dharwad580001, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Author Taxonomy and Floristic Laboratory, Department of UG, PG and Research in Botany, Karnatak University’s, Karnatak Science College, Dharwad580001, Karnataka, India Email: [email protected] Peer-Review History Received: 20 February 2024 Reviewed & Revised: 24/February/2024 to 29/April/2024 Accepted: 02 May 2024 Published: 09 May 2024 Peer-Review Model External peer-review was done through double-blind method. Species pISSN 2319–5746; eISSN 2319–5754 © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)., which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. DISCOVERY SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 2 of 11 harbour a number of endemic species, which need to be conserved. Higher rates of human population growth in India put these ecoregions at risk of extinction due to over-increasing human interference, fragmentation, deforestation, and expansion of agricultural lands in the forested landscapes (Cincotta et al., 2000). Singh et al., (2015) based on their extensive literature survey and interpretation of herbarium data estimated a total of 4303 species of angiosperms are strict endemics in India. The latest estimate of Plant diversity in India stands at 55387 taxa, including 22108 angiosperms. It accounts for about 40 per cent of the total Plant species known from India. Sanjappa and Sringeswara, (2019) enumerated a total of 5009 species belonging to 1535 genera and 191 families. It includes 116 species that are narrowly endemic to the state of Karnataka. The latest report by enlisted a total of 6771 angiosperms including wild and cultivated belonging to 213 families, including 1491 endemic taxa from the Karnataka state. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area Haveri district is situated in the central part of Karnataka state and located between North latitudes 14 16’ 52” to 1521’ 01” and East longitudes 75 0’35” to 75 49’23” which covers a total geographical area of 4848 km2. It is surrounded by Dharwad in the North, Gadag in the North-East, Bellary in the East, Davanagere in the South, Shimoga in the South-East and Uttara Kannada in the West-North-West position. It had 8 talukas such as Byadagi, Hangal, Haveri, Hirekerur, Ranebennur, Rattihalli, Savanur and Shiggaon. A map of the study area was procured by (Nayak and Jamakhandi, 2020) (Figure 1). The landmass of the district is situated between the elevations of 515 m to 732 m above MSL. As per the classification of Indian Forests by Champion and Seth, (1968), the forests of Haveri Division fit into the following types of forests, Southern dry mixed deciduous (5A/C3), Southern Thorn Forests (6A/CI) and Secondary Dry Deciduous Forest (5/DS1). Figure 1 Map of the Haveri district CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 3 of 11 Field work and data collection The plant specimens were collected from different localities in the study area and from different habitats from December 2019 to August 2023. During the field visit on the spot, some notable observations were recorded in the field notebook (Jain and Rao, 1977). Photographs were made with Canon EOS 200 D II and on mobile. All the collected specimens were identified and confirmed with the aid of previously published literature and flora Hooker, (1872-1897), Cooke, (1958), Saldanha and Nicolson, (1976), Sharma et al., (1984), Saldanha, (1984), Saldanha, (1996), Bhat, (2014), Sanjappa and Sringeshwara, (2019) Online nomenclature databases were also consulted. Conservation status of the plants as provided in the International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2023). The endemic status and distribution of the species were checked by referring to Endemic Vascular Plants of India (Singh et al., 2015). All species were labelled with recently accepted names and their families as per the recent classification of angiosperms APG IV (Chase et al., 2016). The collected plant specimens were pressed and prepared herbarium followed by the dry method of (Jain and Rao, 1977). The voucher specimens were submitted to the Herbarium of Botany Department, Karnatak Science College, Dharwad (HKCD). 3. RESULTS The present study resulted in the documentation of a total of 46 endemic taxa belonging to 43 genera under 24 families from the Haveri district of Karnataka (Table 1; Figures 5, 6 & 7). This is almost 5% of the total flora of the district. Out of 46 enlisted endemic taxa, 80% were dicotyledons (37 species), and 20% were monocotyledons (9 species). The family Acanthaceae is dominant with 6 endemic species, it contributes 13% of total flora followed by the family Asteraceae with 5 species, Fabaceae and Orchidaceae with 4 species each. Bignoniaceae (3), Combretaceae, Commelinaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gentianaceae and Lamiaceae are represented with 2 species each (Figure 2). A single species represented the remaining 14 families. Figure 2 Dominant families of endemic taxa in Haveri district Analysis of Habit-wise distribution of the enumerated taxa showed that herbaceous flora was dominant with 28 species and shares more than half of the total endemics (61%), followed by trees 9 (20%), shrubs 7 (15%) and climbers 2 (4%) (Figure 3). Habitat study showed that Helicanthes elastica (Desr.) Danser (Loranthaceae) was the only parasitic taxa documented from the survey commonly observed on the Mangifera indica L. as a host. Aerides maculosa Lindl. and Dendrobium ovatum (L.) Kraenzl. (Orchidaceae) were the epiphytic taxa commonly grown on hosts like Mangifera indica L., Terminalia anogeissiana Gere & Boatwr. and Tamarindus indica L. 654 4 322222 Number of Species Families CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 4 of 11 Figure 3 Habit-wise distribution of endemic taxa. Out of collected 46 species, 7 species were with tuberous rootstock Ceropegia bhatii S.R.Yadav & Shendage, Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatter & McCann, Drimia polyantha (Blatt. & McCann) Stearn, Iphigenia pallida Baker, Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schult. & Schult.f., Geodorum laxiflorum Griff., and Curcuma karnatakensis Amalraj, Velay. & Mural. 2 species namely, Homonoia retusa (Graham ex Wight) Müll.Arg. and Phyllanthus lawii J.Graham were restricted to only riparian vegetation in the study area. Based on the distributional area of endemic taxa, they were classified into 5 different categories, Western Ghats (WG) elements were dominant with 18 taxa, followed by, Indian endemics (16), Southern India (6) and Peninsular India (3) (Figure 4). Geodorum laxiflorum Griff. was formerly reported from Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal state recently it was reported as a new addition to the flora of Karnataka from the Haveri district (Makanur and Kotresha, 2022a). 3 taxa are narrowly endemic to Karnataka state namely, Dyschoriste vagans (Wight) O. Ktze. was restricted to Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamangaluru and Chitradurga districts. Curcuma karnatakensis Amalraj, Velay. & Mural. endemic to Belagavi, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Uttara Kannada districts (Sanjappa and Sringeshwara, 2019). Ceropegia bhatii Yadav and Shendage, (2010) reported for the first time next to its type locality Davangere-Malebennur Ghat. Figure 4 Representation of the number of endemic taxa based on geographic distribution in Haveri District 61% 20% 15% 4% Herb Tree Shrub Climber 16 3 6 18 3 India Peninsular India Southern India Western Ghats Karnataka Number of Endemic taxa CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 5 of 11 Figure 5 A. Acalypha malabarica Müll.Arg.; B. Acilepis dendigulensis (DC.) H.Rob.; C. Aerides maculosa Lindl.; D. Argyreia cuneata (Willd.) Ker Gawl.; E. Aspidopterys cordata (Wall.) A.Juss.; F. Blepharispermum subsessile DC.; G. Canscora perfoliata Lam.; H. Ceropegia bhatii S.R.Yadav & Shendage; I. Curcuma karnatakensis Amalraj, Velay. & Mural.; J. Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schult. & Schult.f.; K. Dendrobium ovatum (L.) Kraenzl.; L. Dicliptera cuneata Nees. CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 6 of 11 Figure 6 A. Dolichandrone falcata (Wall. ex DC.) Seem; B. Drimia polyantha (Blatt. & McCann) Stearn; C. Dyschoriste vagans (Wight) O. Ktze.; D. Eranthemum roseum (Vahl) R.Br.; E. Exacum lawi C. B. Clarke; F. Gardenia gummifera L.f.; G. Geodorum laxiflorum Griff.; H. Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatter & McCann; I. Helicanthes elastica (Desr.) Danser; J. Homonoia retusa (Graham ex Wight) Müll.Arg.; K. Iphigenia pallida Baker; L. Justicia wynaadensis (Nees) T. Anderson CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 7 of 11 Figure 7 A. Kalanchoe olivacea Dalzell; B. Lavandula bipinnata O.Kuntze; C. Moullava spicata (Dalzell) Nicolson; D. Neuracanthus trinervius Wight; E. Phyllanthus lawii J.Graham; F. Polycarpaea aurea (Wight) Wight & Arn. ex B.D.Jacks.; G. Pulicaria wightiana (DC.) C.B.Clarke;m H. Radermachera xylocarpa (Roxb.) K.Schum.; I. Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb.; J. Terminalia paniculata Roth; K. Thunbergia hawtayneana Wall.; L. Tricholepis radicans (Roxb.) DC. Analysis of the IUCN status of enumerated species showed that Ceropegia bhatii S.R.Yadav & Shendage comes under the Critically Endangered (CR) category (Makanur and Kotresha, 2024), Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatter & McCann belongs to Near Threatened CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 8 of 11 (NT) category, Garcinia indica (Dupetit-Thouars) Choisy comes under the Vulnerable (VU) and Eranthemum roseum (Vahl) R.Br., Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb., Homonoia retusa (Graham ex Wight) Müll.Arg., Hardwickia binata Roxb., Lavandula bipinnata O. Kuntze and Gardenia gummifera L.f. belonged to Least Concern (LC) category. The conservation status of the remaining 37 species was not studied they come under the Not Applicable (NA) category. Table 1 List of endemic species collected from the Haveri District. Botanical name Family Habit Phenology Distribution IUCN Status Accession Acalypha malabarica Müll.Arg. Euphorbiaceae H Aug-Nov WG NA 20340 Acilepis dendigulensis (DC.) H.Rob. Asteraceae H Aug-Feb PI NA 20642; 643 Aerides maculosa Lindl. Orchidaceae H May-Oct I NA 20611; 833 Argyreia cuneata (Willd.) Ker Gawl. Convolvulaceae S Aug-Feb WG NA - Aspidopterys cordata (Wall.) A.Juss. Malpighiaceae C Aug-Jan SI NA 20447 Blepharispermum subsessile DC. Asteraceae H Aug-Jan I NA 20876; 877 Blumea eriantha DC. Asteraceae H Nov-May I NA 20970 Canscora perfoliata Lam. Gentianaceae H Oct-Apr WG NA 20746 Capparis grandiflora Wall. ex Hook.f. & Thomson Capparaceae S Mar-Apr WG NA 20334 Ceropegia bhatii S.R.Yadav & Shendage Apocynaceae C Sep-Nov K CR 20907; 908 Crotalaria pusilla Heyne ex Roth Fabaceae H Jul-Jan I NA 20656 Crotalaria vestita Baker Fabaceae H Nov-Feb I NA 20603; 604 Curcuma karnatakensis Amalraj, Velay. & Mural. Zingiberaceae H Aug-Dec K NA 20442 Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schult. & Schult.f. Commelinaceae H Aug-Dec SI NA - Dendrobium ovatum (L.) Kraenzl. Orchidaceae H Sep-Mar I NA 20662 Dicliptera cuneata Nees Acanthaceae H Nov-Feb WG NA 20682 Dolichandrone atrovirens (Roth) Sprague Bignoniaceae T TY WG NA 20426 Dolichandrone falcata (Wall. ex DC.) Seem. Bignoniaceae T TY I NA 20250 Drimia polyantha (Blatt. & McCann) Stearn Asparagaceae H Mar-Jul WG NA 20849 Dyschoriste vagans (Wight) O. Ktze. Acanthaceae H Jun-Feb K NA 20608; 699 Eranthemum roseum (Vahl) R.Br. Acanthaceae H Nov-Jan I LC 20616 CHECKLIST | OPEN ACCESS Species 25, e21s1659 (2024) 9 of 11 Exacum lawi C. B. Clarke Gentianaceae H Sep-Nov WG NA 20926; 927 Garcinia indica (DupetitThouars) Choisy Clusiaceae T Nov-Aug WG VU - Gardenia gummifera L.f. Rubiaceae T Dec-Aug WG LC 20635 Geodorum laxiflorum Griff. Orchidaceae H Jun-Sep I NA 20889 Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatter & McCann Orchidaceae H Jun-Nov WG NT 20377 Hardwickia binata Roxb. Fabaceae T Aug-Jan I LC - Helicanthes elastica (Desr.) Danser Loranthaceae H Apr-Dec WG NA 20628; 629 Homonoia retusa (Graham ex Wight) Müll.Arg. Euphorbiaceae S Jan-Aug WG LC 20785 Iphigenia pallida Baker Colchicaceae H Jul-Sep SI NA 20381 Justicia wynaadensis (Nees) T.Anderson Acanthaceae S Nov-Mar WG NA 20749 Kalanchoe olivacea Dalzell Crassulaceae H Jan-Apr WG NA - Lagerstroemia microcarpa Wight Lythraceae T Jun-Feb WG NA 20843; 844 Lavandula bipinnata O.Kuntze Lamiaceae H Sep-Feb I LC 20152 Leucas clarkei Hook.f. Lamiaceae H Sep-Jan I NA - Moullava spicata (Dalzell) Nicolson Fabaceae S Oct-Mar WG NA 20591 Murdannia dimorpha (Dalzell) G.Brückn. Commelinaceae H Jul-Nov WG NA - Neuracanthus trinervius Wight Acanthaceae H Dec-Mar I NA 20768 Phyllanthus lawii J.Graham Phyllanthaceae S Dec-May I NA 20638 Polycarpaea aurea (Wight) Wight & Arn. ex B.D.Jacks. Caryophyllaceae H Aug-Feb I NA 20637 Pulicaria wightiana (DC.) C.B.Clarke Asteraceae H Jul-Feb PI NA 20137 Radermachera xylocarpa (Roxb.) K.Schum. Bignoniaceae T Feb-Apr SI NA 20980; 981 Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. Combretaceae T Mar-Dec I LC - Terminalia paniculata Roth Combretaceae T Aug-Jan SI NA 20573 Thunbergia hawtayneana Wall. Acanthaceae S TY SI NA 20736; 737 Tricholepis radicans (Roxb.) DC. Asteraceae H Aug-Feb PI NA 20947; 948 Abbreviations: C-Climber; H-Herb; S-Shrub; T-Tree; TY-Throughout the year; I-India; PI-Peninsular India; SI-Southern India; WGWestern Ghats; CRCritically Endangered; LCLeast Concern; NA-Not applicable; NT-Near Threatened; VU-Vulnerable.