Thottea idukkiana ?

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  • Thottea

 
586 ID wild plant Thottea: 16 high res. images.
Please ID wild plant,
Location: bloomed near Vannappuram Thodupuzha Idukki Kerala INDIA
Altitude: 1500fsl
Flower date: 15AUG2024, 02.35pm
Habitat: wild moisture evergreen misty sloppy canopied alpine
Plant habit: big shrub, erect branches, hard woody cylindrical stem 07 inches base circumference, rough brownish bark, perennial
Height: 03 meters
Leaves: alternate elongated/elliptic acute simple flexible glossy aromatic, size upto: 25×8cm
Flower: axillary buds, 03 tepals, purplish diameter:10mm, tomentose, non fragrant
Fruit: lengthy cylindrical beans purplish into brown, ridges size:12×0.6cm
Seed: brown upto 10 nos.ovoid angular
Camera: CANON EOS1500D +FL10x

Thottea siliquosa (Lam.) Ding Hou ??

It is more close to Thottea dalzellii.

This is very interesting. I suppose the presence of several appendages below the stigmatic lobes in your first photograph (IMG_3277) would qualify this for Thottea dalzellii. From what I’ve understood, such appendages are either absent or only occasional in Thottea siliquosa. These two species are closely related and I don’t have an extensive grasp of all the finer differences between them yet.
Are all the flowers in your first batch of photographs from the very same plant? I’m curious about the arrangement of stamens: 4+4+3 in the first three images as against the more common 3+3+3 in the last image of the partially-open flower (IMG_4853).
Let’s wait for Dr. Santhosh’s views.


IMG_4853
Thank you very much for the detailed discussions. The first three images are of fully opened same flower (IMG 3277, 3276, 3273).  Fourth image 4853 was captured (available only one image) from nearby plant in 2023, just I think it is same as T. idukkiana captured in 7.4.22 from another location.

Thanks, …, for the clarification. Though the fourth image (IMG_4853) is from a separate individual, it appears to be the same species as the first three photographs. The number/arrangement of stamens can vary.
The tooth-like, pointy appendages (staminodes?) are similar in both the specimens. The angle of the fourth photograph is not ideal to view these projections but a few are visible nonetheless (marked & attached herewith).

We had a long discussion with … regarding the identity. We need to study the specimen in detail. As of now, it is not similar to any known species of the genus, but occasionally such kind of intermediate and natural hybrids are found in this genus. So before coming to a conclusion, I  suggest SamJi to collect a few samples for a detailed study.
Similarly, many endemic species of south Indian Thottea are now appearing in Sri Lanka also. There was only a single species reported from Sri Lanka, i.e. Thottea siliquosa. But now T.ponmudiana, T.idukkiana, T.sivarajanii, T. dalzellii etc are also found there.
The genus Thottea becomes a mess of species owing to several intermediate forms making the species delimitation a herculean task for the taxonomists. I am working on it now.
Hope we can conclude the circumscription of several species shortly.