Dalechampia scandens var. velutina

Dalechampia scandens L. var. velutina (Wight) Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 1245. 1866; Chakrab. & N. P. Balakr. in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 32: 603. 2008. Dalechampia velutina Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. t. 1881. 1852; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 467. 1888 as per Flora of India Vol 23 (2012).
 
Dalechampia velutina Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5: 1881 1852. (Syn: Dalechampia scandens var. velutina (Wight) Müll.Arg.) as per The Plant List ;
 

 

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Fwd: Dalechampia velutina Wight? :  Attachments (3). 5 posts by 2 authors.
Dalechampia sp. collected from Kerala. Please help for identification

Dalechampia scandens L. var. velutina (Wight) Muell.Arg. as per another thread as per … & …


Re: Dalechampia : 3 posts by 3 authors.

I am … working as a Scientist in Taxonomy division, CMPR, AVS, Kottakkal.
(Specialized in Zingiberaceae under Prof. M. Sabu, Calicut University and from the last five years working as a general taxonomist)
I am also one of the moderator of efloraindia and I know you are specialized in Euphorbiaceae.
Recently I collected one interesting specimen of Dalechampia from grass lands of Nelliyampthy hills, Palakkad.
The characters are interesting and it is allied to D. indica, D. velutina and D. cordofana in many attributes.
Before one month back I sent this plants to …, University of Portsmouth and he commented that ” I am afraid it is not easy to put a definite name on your specimen. The Indian Dalechampia need revision, because we lack recently collected dry leaf samples, we have not been able to do this yet.”.
Herewith I am attaching the photos, plate, description along with icones and reference.
Hope you can solve the identity.

I think it is Dalechampia scandens var. velutina.

As the pictures are not available here, are we talking of the pictures in this old thread ?

It is definitely Dalechampia scandens L. var. velutina (Wight) Muell.Arg. In D. indica the leaves are 3-foliolate (meaning that each leaflet has a definite petiolule), whereas in D. scandens the leaves are 3-lobed, without any petiolule for the lobes. Within D. scandens, in var. velutina the leaves are densely pubescent beneath, whereas in var. cordofana the leaves are scattered pubescent beneath.

If you are not convinced, please send a herbarium specimen to … at Central National Herbarium, for final confirmation after matching with authentic specimens there.

   

References:

Flora of India Vol 23 (2012)  The Plant List  Tropicos (Dalechampia scandens L.) India Biodiversity Portal  

An Excursion Flora of Central Tamilnadu, India By K. M. Matthew (1995) (Details)

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