Trekking route to Mussoorie
November 2014
Strobilanthus dalhousianus I hope
Please confirm if the right spelling is Strobilanthes dalhousieanus.
Current name is Strobilanthes penstemonoides (to see pl. click)
Can it be Strobilanthes penstemonoides var. penstemonoides as the leaves appears to be glabrous ?
Strobilanthes bracteata as per another thread by Dr. Wood.
It does not look like Strobilanthes bracteata (Nees) J.R.I. Wood as recently identified by Dr. Wood at link.
It is not easy to see details because of the low resolution. Strobilanthes pentstemenoides has a glabrous corolla (Both var. pentstemenoides and var. dalhouseana) and leaves unequal in each pair. I think the corolla is hairy, which rules out S. pentstemenoides and suggests S. bracteata but it is not a good example of that species and I can’t see what the leaf pairs look like; also S. bracteata has hairy leaves so doesn’t fit S. bracteata well. If the corolla is glabrous, S. pentstemenoides var dalhouseana has hairy leaves and so doesn’t fit this plant but the two varieties are not well distinguished. A bit of a mystery specimen, I am afraid.
You have once suggested as below:
“This is NOT Strobilanthes penstemonoides (hairy corolla and absence of scarious bracts). I think it is Strobilanthes angustifrons C.B. Clarke but am not completely sure. Is there a photo showing the whole plant?”
It is possible. It is not easy to be certain of photo identifications when material is untypical or incomplete. Both S. bracteata and S. angustfrons have a pubescent corolla but differ in bract shape (early caducous also in S. bracteata) and relative leaf size.
