Hypericum assamicum

Last updated

Hypericum assamicum
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Hypericaceae
Genus: Hypericum
Section: Hypericum sect. Sampsonia
Species:
H. assamicum
Binomial name
Hypericum assamicum
Synonyms [2]
  • Hypericum electrocarpumMaxim.
  • Hypericum esquiroliiH.Lév.
  • Hypericum oshimaenseR.Keller

Hypericum assamicum is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. [3] It is endemic to India. Hypericum assamicum is one of two species of Hypericum in the section Hypericum sect. Sampsonia. [3]

Contents

Description

Hypericum assamicum is an erect, perennial or suffruticose (woody at the base) herb 20–40 cm (7.9–15.7 in) tall. The stems are terete with internodes 2–6.5 mm (0.1–0.3 in), shorter than or exceeding the leaves. The oblong to oblanceolate leaves are perfoliate, in pairs, thinly papery, up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 15 mm (0.59 in) broad, with glaucous undersides and obtuse to rounded tips. The margin of the leaf is entire, or rarely glandular-crenate, with dense, black glands. The leaves have broadly cuneate or rounded leaf bases. The flowerheads produce 12–18 flowers in corymbiform or subpyramidal branching patterns. Each flower is approximately 12 mm (0.47 in) with 5 sepals, 5 yellowish petals, and approximately 15 stamens. The cylindric to subglobose fruiting capsules reach 6 mm (0.24 in) in length with reddish-brown seeds, each seed 0.8 mm (0.031 in) long. [3] It flowers and fruits between March and April. [4]

Taxonomy

Hypericum assamicum was described in 1971 by Samarendra Nath Biswas in Webbia, Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography. [4] The type specimen was collected in Nowgong (now Nagaon), Assam, India in July 1848. It was named for its type locality, Assam, India. [4]

It is placed in the section Hypericum sect. Sampsonia, along with Hypericum sampsonii , [5] based on the combination of perfoliate leaves and vesicular-glandular capsule valves. [3] Hypericum assamicum is distinguished from H. sampsonii by its leaves that are shortly connate-perfoliate at the base (vs. broadly perfoliate bases), spatulate-oblong unequal sepals (vs. oblong subequal sepals), petals shorter than the sepals (vs. petals as long as the sepals), ovaries with 3-parietal placentas (vs. 3-celled with an axile placenta), and subglobose to oblong capsules with rounded or obtuse apices (vs. ovoid capsules with narrowed to acute apices). [4] The closest population of H. sampsonii to H. assamicum is approximately 850 km (530 mi) away. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Hypericum assamicum is endemic to eastern India. [2] [3] A 1915 collection noted that it was "common in jungles". [4] It occurs at altitudes up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in riparian areas, open grasslands, roadsides, agricultural fields, and fallow places in the eastern Himalayas. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hypericum</i> Genus of flowering plants known as St. Johns worts

Hypericum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many Hypericum species are regarded as invasive species and noxious weeds. All members of the genus may be referred to as St. John's wort, and some are known as goatweed. The white or pink flowered marsh St. John's worts of North American and eastern Asia are now separated into the genus Triadenum.

Hypericaceae Family of flowering plants (St. Johns wort family)

Hypericaceae is a plant family in the order Malpighiales, comprising six to nine genera and up to 700 species, and commonly known as the St. John’s wort family. Members are found throughout the world apart from extremely cold or dry habitats. Hypericum and Triadenum occur in temperate regions but other genera are mostly tropical.

<i>Hypericum tetrapterum</i> Species of flowering plants in the St Johns wort family Hupericaceae

Hypericum tetrapterum is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. Its common names include St. Peter's wort, Peterwort, square stemmed St. John's wort, and square stalked St. John's wort.

<i>Hypericum balearicum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum balearicum is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae, native to Spain's Balearic Islands. It is the only species in the section Psorophytum.

<i>Hypericum terrae-firmae</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum terrae-firmae is a woody perennial flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is an endemic plant species of Belize.

Hypericum acmosepalum is a dwarf shrub in Hypericumsect. Ascyreia that is native to China and known as jian e jin si tao locally.

<i>Cadaba aphylla</i>

Cadaba aphylla ("Swartstorm") is one of some 30 species in the genus Cadaba. It is indigenous to southern Africa.

Hypericum buckleyi, known as Buckley's St. Johnswort, is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae that is found only in the Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States.

Hypericum umbraculoides is a species of flowering plant, a deciduous shrub in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It is the sole species in the section Hypericum sect. Umbraculoides.

<i>Hypericum kalmianum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum kalmianum, commonly called Kalm's St. Johns wort or Kalm's St. Johnswort, is a flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is native to the Great Lakes region in the northern United States and southern Canada. Hypericum kalmianum was named after its discoverer, Swedish botanist Pehr Kalm (1715-1779).

Hypericum cuisinii is a perennial herb in the genus Hypericum, in the section Adenosepalum. The herb has pale yellow flowers and occurs in Greece and Turkey.

<i>Hypericum undulatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum undulatum, the wavy St Johns Wort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to western Europe and northern Africa. The specific name undulatum is Latin, meaning "wavy" or "undulated", referring, just as the common name, to the wavy leaf margins of the herb. The plant has a diploid number of 16 or 32.

<i>Hypericum denticulatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum denticulatum, the coppery St. John's Wort, is a perennial herb in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. It is native to the Eastern United States. The species has two varieties, H. denticulatum var. recognitum and H. denticulatum var. acutifolium. The herb has a diploid number of 24 or 48.

<i>Hypericum humboldtianum</i> species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum humboldtianum is a species of shrubby flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae native to Colombia and Venezuela.

Hypericum sampsonii is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It occurs in China, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. It is one of two species of Hypericum in the section Hypericum sect. Sampsonia.

Hypericum myrtifolium, the myrtleleaf St. Johnswort, is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It was first described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1797.

Hypericum sect. Sampsonia is a small section of plants in the genus Hypericum. It comprises only two species, both endemic to eastern Asia: Hypericum sampsonii and Hypericum assamicum.

<i>Hypericum vacciniifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum vacciniifolium is a species of flowering plant in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. It was first described by August von Hayek and Walter Siehe in the Ann. K. K. Naturhist. Hofmus. journal in 1914 from a specimen collected by Siehe in 1912.

<i>Hypericum heterophyllum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum heterophyllum is a flowering plant in the Hypericaceae family and is the only species in Hypericum sect. Heterophylla.

References

  1. "Hypericum assamicum S.N.Biswas". ipni.org. International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  2. 1 2 "Hypericum assamicum S.N.Biswas". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hypericum assamicum S.N.Biswas Descriptions". hypericum.myspecies.info. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Biswas, S. N. (January 1971). "Hypericum assamicum S. N. Biswas (Hypericaceae) A new species from eastern Himalaya". Webbia. 25 (2): 671–674. doi:10.1080/00837792.1971.10669945.
  5. "Descriptions of four new plants from southern China". Journal of Botany, British and Foreign . 3: 378–379. 1865. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  6. Butola, Jitendra; Pant, Shreekar; Samant, S (2007). "Diversity, Distribution and Indigenous Uses of the Hypericum Species in Indian Himalayan Region". Ethnobotanical Leaflets. 11 (1).