Marsdenia lucida

Marsdenia lucida Edgew. ex Madden, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 17(1): 370 1848. ;
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Nepal, Bhutan, India (Himalayas, Upper Gangetic Plains) as per CoL;
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Edgew, mss. ; branches petioles cymes and leaves beneath finely pubescent, leaves elliptic or ovate acute or obtusely acuminate, cymes corymbiform very shortly peduncled, corolla-lobes ciliate glabrous without sparsely hairy within, coronal scales subulate equalling the anther-tips, style many times longer than the column tip bifid. Brand. For. Fl. 333.

WESTERN HIMALAYA ; Kumaon, Strach. & Winterb. ; Nynetal, alt. 5-7000 ft., Madden.

Leaves 4-5 by 2-3 in., rather coriaceous, pale beneath ; nerves arched ; petiole 1-2 in. Corymbs many-fld. ; peduncle stout, 1/2 in. Corolla 1/3-1/2 in. diam. Follicles 5 in, long by 1 in. diam., straight, lanceolate ; pericarp thickly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds 2/3 in. long, ovate-lanceolate.

(Attributions- IBIS Flora (Flora of British India))
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Asclepiadaceae member for ID from Uttarakhand_DSR_October 2017_2 : 19 posts by 5 authors. Attachments (3)

This perennial climber was seen and photographed in our last trekking to Ralam village in Uttarakhand. It was found distributed in temperate broadleaf forests between 2200-2500m elevations. Please suggest the ID.

Thanks, …  I hope you already checked comparative images at /species/a—l/a/apocynaceae

Does not match with any species as comparative images in efi so far at Apocynaceae
However, these appear close to images of ‎Decalepis genus.

Thank you … for suggesting similarity.

Probably any expert of the family Asclepiadaceae (now merged with Apocynaceae) may help in it.

May I know the species of Decalepis found in Uttarakhand
No Decalepis species is known in Uttarakhand.

Any other image close to Decalepis?

It looks like Tylophora barbata – a native plant of Australia; it inhabits in hilly rainforest areas; pls check it.
Thank you … for suggesting the possible ID as T. barbata (now known as Vincetoxicum barbatum (R.Br.) Kuntze) which I checked. This species is not known from Uttarakhand or even India; moreover, it has sessile stigma while distinct long style and stigma are visible in some flowers of my plant.

In fact I am yet not able to narrow down to any genus.

Any remote possibility of Holostemma…??

Holostemma rheedii is listed from H.P. by Collett.. but the leaf base is described as deeply cordate..!!

To me it looks some species of Tylophora only; because it is a very variable genus; or may be a new one

I do not understand why ‘Tylophora barbata’, a plant known only from a limited part of Australia has been suggested.  A quick glance shows that of the images available on the internet (assuming they are correct and they probably are in this case – though frequently are not) do not come close to those photos taken by … What herbarium specimens have been examined to conclude it belongs only to this genus? Please explain on what basis it only belongs to the genus Tylophora? Too much reliance is put on glancing at images on the internet.  It really is important that the geographic and altitudinal distributions are considered when suggesting likely identifications. Most genera and individual species are variable.
Furthermore, it is often impossible to decide which genus or species a plant belongs to on the basis of a small number of photos only

I am raising really important issues which EFI needs to address

If you are able to pin point the genus, further efforts can be made for final I’d.

Inflorescence pattern and flower buds indicate towards Gymnema sp.

Marsdenia lucida Edgew. ex Madden

Thank you very much … for this long pending identification.

It seems that good live images are not available for this species.
These images in eFI will be helpful in future ID of species.

My pleasure ! Marsdenia lucida Edgew. ex Madden

 

 

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References: POWO  Catalogue of Life  The Plant List Ver.1.1  IPNI  GBIF (High resolution specimens) High resolution specimen  Annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal  IBIS Flora (Flora of British India)

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