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Centaurium

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Fortunately I have access to the document- ‘Revision of the family Gentianaceae of North West Himalaya’ by S.Garg (1982) based on which she later published “Gentianaceae of North West Himalaya: A Revision” (Garg 1988). The document says-
After seeing plenty of dried as well as fresh specimens, only two species have been ascertained in India which also occur in North West Himalayan region.
Key to species–
Leafy, fastigiate herbs. Pedicels 2-4 mm long ……. C.pulchellum
Simple, lax herbs. Pedicels 0.9-2.5 cm long ….. C. meyeri
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Botanical nameSynonymsFamilyCommon name
Centaurium meyeri = Centaurium pulchellum var. meyeri Erythraea meyeri, Erythraea roxburghii, Centaurium centaurioides Gentianaceae Pink Centaury
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Indian Gentianaceae: A Check-list By Sunita Garg (1988)- Details-
Centaurium meyeri var. saxatilis (Clarke) Sunita comb. nov.
Centaurium pulchellum var. caspica (Griseb.) R.R.Stewart is a synonym of Centaurium pulchellum (Sw.) Druce
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Flora of Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India By T. Pullaiah, Chintala Prabhakar, B. Ravi Prasad Rao (1998)- Details-
Centaurium roxburghii (G.DON) DRUCE = Centaurium pulchellum var. meyeri
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Centaurium: 1 post by 1 author.

I have updated eFI (efloraofindia) page on Centaurium

Attempts have been made to incorporate most of the species available in India & nearby areas with details & keys directly or through links as far as possible. It’s quite possible that there may be some discrepancy in the accepted names & synonyms taken from other links.

Species discussed so far in efloraofindia are given at the bottom of the page in the form of links against Subpages. On clicking them one can see all the details.

If someone can provide complete list of Indian species with source references it will be wonderful.
Any comments/ corrections are welcome.

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Whom would I/we follow?
As per Haines and Prain we should have Erythraea roxburghii G. Don, the accepted name of which is –
  • (as per TPL) Centaurium centaurioides (Roxb.) S.R.Rao & Hemadri
  • (as per FoP) Centaurium pulchellum var. meyeri (Bunge) Omer, comb. nov.
  • FoC doesn’t have var. meyeri
My earlier two threads are –
  1. https://groups.google.com/indiantreepix/7CMyxUJ
  2. https://groups.google.com/indiantreepix/tDuIEJ

How do you differentiate Centaurium centaurioides and Centaurium pulchellum?

Thanks, … Discussions at Centaurium pulchellum var. meyeri may be of some help.

Earlier the question was addressed by … also and in that thread he referred a checklist (by Sunita Garg). But neither the thread nor the eFI page provides me key to differentiate between pulcehllum and meyeri.
FoP says meyeri has white flowers but eFI and FoI has pink flowers.
However, as per Presidency University website and an ENVIS document (two entries of Centaurium) we have only Centaurium centaurioides (Roxb.) S.R.Rao & Hemadri.

Thanks, … Pl. also see Centaurium

Fortunately I have access to the document- ‘Revision of the family Gentianaceae of North West Himalaya’ by S.Garg (1982) based on which she later published “Gentianaceae of North West Himalaya: A Revision” (Garg 1988). The document says-
After seeing plenty of dried as well as fresh specimens, only two species have been ascertained in India which also occur in North West Himalayan region.
Key to species–
Leafy, fastigiate herbs. Pedicels 2-4 mm long ……… C.pulchellum
Simple, lax herbs. Pedicels 0.9-2.5 cm long ……… C. meyeri

There are many confusion regarding the spp. (or var.) of this genus, …, in eFloras as well as in FBI-FI etc.
While FoC thinks Erythraea meyeri Bunge is a synonym of Centaurium pulchellum var. altaicum FoP regards Erythraea meyeri Bunge & Centaurium pulchellum var. altaica are two different taxa. Flower colour of the related taxa differs in FoC and in FoP.
The above is only one example of many contradictions and confusions. I think we simply do not have any clear KEY to differentiate those spp. or var. Sometimes we use FoP as key to identify a species and other times we use FoC!
We need to define/construct our own KEY.
It appears to me that C. pulchellum (with all its var.) have corolla tube conspicuously longer than calyx teeth while the corolla tube in C. centaurioides are equal (or sub-equal) to calyx teeth. This is my assumption only (based on illustrations and available net images from apparently reliable sources). This may be a starting point to differentiate the species when we do not have details on leaves and other features.

Updated on December 24, 2024

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