Alysicarpus poklianus (Fabaceae, Desmodieae), a new species from India

Abstract A new species, Alysicarpus poklianus Gholami & Pandey from Sinhgarh, Maharashtra, India is described. It is morphologically most similar to Alysicarpus hamosus but differs in having ovate leaves, rounded-ovate bracts, larger size of calyx, pods comprising 5–7 longer than broad joints with easily separable septa. In this study, a comprehensive description, and identification key of Alysicarpus poklianus are provided.


Introduction
Th e genus Alysicarpus Necker ex Desvaux, a member of tribe Desmodieae, family Fabaceae, comprises approximately 30 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the old world (Lewis et al. 2005).Th e major centers of diversity of the genus are Africa (10 spp.), India, Indo-China, Malaysia and Japan (20 spp.) (Lewis et al. 2005, Mabberley 2009). In India, the genus is represented by approximately 18 species, (Sanjappa 1992, Pokle 2002, Gholami and Pandey 2016.
Th e genus Alysicarpus is characterized by its calyx with reticulate or striate venation, and turgid indehiscent pods. Th e leaves are generally unifoliolate or rarely pinnately 3-foliolate (Pedley 2001, Pokle 2002. During the taxonomic revision of the genus Alysicarpus, fi eld trips were made to diff erent parts of India and several specimens were collected. We compared our collected specimens with all the voucher specimens of Alysicarpus species deposited in diff erent herbaria (BAMU, BSD, BSI, CAL, DD, DUH, LWG, MH, PAN). A critical examination of the collected specimens and literature indicated that the collected material represented an undescribed species. Hence, the objective of the present study was to undertake morphological and molecular analyses to test whether these specimens represent a new taxon. Our unpublished preliminary molecular sequence data analysis supports the recognition of new species. In the present communication, the new species is described based on morphological data supplemented with identifi cation key for all Indian species of Alysicarpus.

Morphology
Th e overall morphology of the new species was examined by stereobinocular microscope (SMZ 1000). For morphological comparisons, we consulted herbarium specimens kept in diff erent herbaria in India (BAMU, BSD, BSI, CAL, DD, DUH, LWG, MH, PAN). Th e Flora of India and fl oras of diff erent states in India and neighboring regions including China, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh were also consulted. Th e diagnostic traits of the new species and morphologically most similar species viz., Alysicarpus hamosus and A. ovalifolius are presented in Table 1. In addition, an identification key is provided to distinguish new species and other taxa.

SEM study
For SEM study, mature seeds were mounted on aluminum stubs with double adhesive tape and sputter-coated with gold palladium in a JFC-1600 Autofi ne coater, JEOL, Japan sputter coating unit. Samples were examined using a Scanning Electron Microscope JSM-6610LV, JEOL, Japan, at the Department of Botany, University of Delhi, India.
Phenology. Flowering from August to October; fruiting from September to November.