Impatiens agumbeana

Impatiens agumbeana Bhaskar & Razi, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 79: 382 1982 publ. 1983. ;

Images by Anurag N. Sharma and tspkumar

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ANSEPT02/02 Impatiens agumbeana Bhaskar & Razi (syn. Impatiens barberi Hook.f.) :

6 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (6)

Family: Balsaminaceae
Date: 30th August 2015
Place: Agumbe, Karnataka
Habit: Epiphytic herb
Habitat: On moss covered tree trunks

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Dr. Janarthanam and group had merged my Impatiens agumbeana under I. barberi Hk.f. based on their observation of the Type herbarium specimen.  Since the collection of I. barberi by C.A. Barber in 1903 there was no collection from the Type locality including Jyosna Dessai and Dr. Janarthanam.  I made several attempts to trace it again since 1992 but in vain. I also thought that I. barberi has become extinct.  Only during September 2011, after an intensive search in the upper sholas of Cadamane, I could collect I. barberi.  I compared this with I. agumbeana and came to a conclusion that although both look more or less alike I. barberi differed in having sharply curved dorsal auricle, sparsely distributed hairs on seeds with bimorphic banding pattern, while in I. agumbeana, dorsal auricle is straight, seeds have densely crowded hairs with only one kind of banding pattern.  In Impatiens, within the group or section, external morphology hardly provides distinguishing features but in the absence of morphological differences, micro-morphological characters offer stable qualitative differences on which one has to rely upon.  Hence, Impatiens agumbeana and I. barberi remain as distinct species. For detailed discussion please read my Taxonomic monograph on Impatiens of Western Ghats (2012).

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Thanks so much, …, for explaining.

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