Phlogacanthus jenkinsii

Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C. B. Cl., Fl. Brit. India 4: 513 (1885);
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Assam to Myanmar: Assam, Bangladesh, Myanmar as per POWO;
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Common name: Nongmangkha • Manipuri: ꯅꯣꯡꯃꯥꯡꯈꯥ Nongmangkha • Mizo: Kawldai-Par-Eng • Tangkhul: Sipchang
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MS Feb, 2018/08 Phlogacanthus sp. for ID : 7 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (2)
Location : Saitual, Mizoram
Date : 23-02-2018
Habit : Shrub
Habitat : Cultivated as a hedge plants
Note : The flowers are sucked by children & birds.

It is Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis


I do not think matches with images at Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis (Roxb. ex Hardw.) Mabb. as inflorescence is axillary in your plant.
Pl. check with images at Phlogacanthus pubinervius T. Anderson 

I think it’s P. pubinervius, but color of stem is different ?


Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C.B.Clarke as per Prayer for correction of Phlogacanthus sp.


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Prayer for correction of Phlogacanthus sp.:
Sir, if possible, please correct my no. MS Feb, 2018/08 Phlogacanthus sp. for ID as Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C.B.Clarke


Who has identified?


Rohan Maity & Sudhansu Sekhar Dash, Botanical Survey of India


1 attachment- Rediscovery of Phlogacanthus jenkinsii (Acanthaceae) from India after 140 years- ROHAN MAITY, MAL SAWMLIANA & SUDHANSU SEKHAR DASH- Phytotaxa 573 (2): 286–292 (2022)


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Fwd: Phlogacanthus of NE India : (Mixed thread): 8 posts by 2 authors. 3 correct images as above

Thanks for reminding about this issue once again. I have been looking at it, and the issue appears to be complex to me.
Firstly, I agree that Polunin & Stainton wrongly identified (probably) Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus, as P. pubinervius.
Secondly, there seem to be two different plants in Manipur, locally considered to be different. I am attaching pictures of them as Phlogacanthus-A and Phlogacanthus-B.
These two look different to me because
1. the inside of the  flower in Phlogacanthus-B appears to be much more hairy, compared to Phlogacanthus-A.
2. The flower shapes look different to me, although can’t be too sure about that
3. See where the sepals are in the fully open flowers. Look at the bottom flowers in Phlogacanthus-B-2 for example, in comparison to Phlogcanthus-A-1 and A-3.
Description of P. thyrsiflorus in Flora of Brit. India says that bracts are about as long as sepals, not longer. In the description of P. thyrsiformis in some papers, the bracts are mentioned to be much longer than sepals. Makes me wonder if these two are different plants. To me, my Phlogacanthus-A appears to agree with the herbarium image of Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus at Kew:
http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getImage.do?imageBarcode=K000950020
but not my Phlogacanthus-B.
To compound the confusion, some papers seems to consider  P. thyrsiformis and P. thyrsiflorus as two different plant. I attach one such paper, where P. thyrsiformis is described as the plant with brick-red flowers, which agrees with my Phlogacanthus-B.
I will be happy to have this issue resolved. This discussion which already happened at efloraofindia doesn’t throw any light on this.


Thanks, …

I have a few points to say in this regard:
1. Pictures like A & B has been posted from Uttarakhand & Himachal from where only Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis (all threads herein) has been reported.
2. You can see the list of species found in India as per latest literature at Phlogacanthus. Only P. thyrsiformis (Roxb. ex Hardw.) Mabb. (
Karthikeyan et al. (2009)) is found. Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus should thus be a syn.
May be experts like … (who is working on Phlogacanthus), …  can give more inputs in the matter.

I may agree that P. thyrsiformis and P. thyrsiflorus might be the same species, although clear mention of that I could not find,
The main problem is that the plant A and B are treated differently by people in Manipur. A (orange one) is supposed to have medicinal qualities, and is very regularly used in home remedies, B (the red one) is not used for this purpose. This all indicates that they might be different species. Opinion of experts on this genus might help.


Here is response from JRI Wood who works on Acanthaceae, including Strobilanthes, and has published on Phlogacanthus too:

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Thanks for your enquiry.
Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus and P. thyrsiformis are the same species. The correct name is Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis.
I think Phlogacanthus A (the orange-flowered one) is P. thysiformis and Phlogacanthus B is P. vitellinus (P. asperulus in Flora of British India). It is difficult to be completely sure but I will have a look at the specimens when I am at Kew on Friday next week. You are right about the distinctive character of P. pubinervius. I will see if I can find a Polunin specimen to check this too.


Thanks, … This is a very good feedback.


Did you get any more feedback in the matter pl. ?


Here is his last response:
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…. Phlogacanthus (and Acanthaceae) are not very easy to identify without specimens (not so easy with specimens!). Here I have access only to old 19th century specimens and it is not easy to match up photos with specimens. I can do north and north eastern Indian Strobilanthes fairly well from photos but other genera can be difficult!

I will get back to you if I have further thoughts.


These two Phlogacanthus species from Manipur had confused me for a long time. Even Dr. John Wood had not been able to help in this matter. Now in the light of the following paper (by M. Sawmliana et al.):
https://mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.573.2.8
the Phlogacanthus-A attached by me is Phlogacanthus jenkinsii. The Phlogacanthus-B attached by me (the one with reddish flowers) is the real Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis. This has been confirmed by one of the authors of this paper, Dr. Sudhansu Sekhar Dash.

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Posted in 2016 and 2018- published as Rediscovery after 140 years:
Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C. B. Cl. (as per details herein) was posted by Tabish ji in 2016 and in 2018 by Sawmliana ji, in eFloraofIndia.

Now it has been published by Sawmliana ji with others as per details at
Rediscovery of Phlogacanthus jenkinsii (Acanthaceae) from India after 140 years– ROHAN MAITY, MAL SAWMLIANA & SUDHANSU SEKHAR DASH- Phytotaxa 573 (2): 286–292 (2022) (Abstract: Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C.B. Clarke (Acanthaceae: Andrographideae), a poorly known species in India, is recollected after 140 years from Mizoram. A detailed taxonomic description along with a photo plate, illustration and comparative diagnostic characters with closely allied species are provided in the present communication).


I congratulate the authors especially Sawmliana ji….


Hearty congratulations to Sawmliana ji and his team !!!
And hearty congratulations to dear Tabish too … a good feeling to find something new earlier !!


efloraofindia/ flowers of India reached first…..taxonomists followed and capitalized.
Congratulations to pioneers and taxonomists.


Congratulations dear Sawmliana ji.


Many congratulations Tabish Ji and Sawmliana Ji.
Must be an exciting feeling to see your hard work pay off


Congratulations Sawmliana ji and coauthors.


 

 


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References:
POWO  Catalogue of Life  GBIF (High resolution specimens) Flowers of India  India Biodiversity Portal
Rediscovery of Phlogacanthus jenkinsii (Acanthaceae) from India after 140 years– ROHAN MAITY, MAL SAWMLIANA & SUDHANSU SEKHAR DASH- Phytotaxa 573 (2): 286–292 (2022) (Abstract: Phlogacanthus jenkinsii C.B. Clarke (Acanthaceae: Andrographideae), a poorly known species in India, is recollected after 140 years from Mizoram. A detailed taxonomic description along with a photo plate, illustration and comparative diagnostic characters with closely allied species are provided in the present communication)