Dear Saroj
Well, Hooker I FBI lists the two species one after each other with both as
annualsor biennals (a characteristic of perhaps greater significance than
realised.
Just noted that 'Flowers of the Himalaya' states that A.sieversiana is common
on stony ground in Ladakh (also in dry areas of Nepal) to 4100m. They say
flower-heads 6-8mm or more across.
Interestingly, Aswal & Mehrotra in 'Flora of Lahaul-Spiti' state that
A.macrocephala is frequent, a characteristicstrongly aromatic species of dry
Himalayan zone, often forms clumps on slopes yet they only include
A.sieversianaon the strength of it being recorded in 'Flora of Himachal
Pradesh'. They separate the two on the basis of Heads nodding,in lax long
racemes (A.sieversiana) whilst heads nodding at ends of branches
(A.macrocephala).
If you read the observations which follow you will appreciate that I am
attempting, if not the impossible, achallenging task of meaningfully naming
material based, in this case, on a small number of non-close-up imagesnot
showing the upper or lower foliage to help confirm (or not) my provisional
thoughts. Thus my detective workonly has a few clues to help. Most naming of
Artemsias has been based upon pressed specimens which can beexamined closely.
Many species in Ladakh (belonging to a variety of genera) have characteristic
smells/odours - which if noted couldmake a significant contribution to
identification - sometimes these odours persist in dried/pressed specimens.
Please note unless there is a Artemisia specialist who has recently examined
material fromLadak and surrounding regions who can comment with greater
authority, my observations mustbe viewed as more provisional than normal (i.e.
for most other genera) but are worth making in an effort to improve the
presentsituation and encourage further observations and photographs (and for
authorised botanists pressedspecimen collection for herbaria) - which is the
only way to make more progress.
I think it will be informative if I reproduce the thoughts of Kletter &
Kriechbaum within 'Tibetan Medicinal Plants'"we would like to say a few words
about the difficulties facing those trying to determine wormwood plants. The
flower heads are tiny, the flowers they contain even smaller and the characters
considered important by botanists, like whetehr the flowers are hermaphroditic
or unisexual, are difficult to check in the field. Thus regarding he flowering
parts, the wormwoods look relatively similar - at least the differences are
difficult to see. In contrast, the vegetative parts, particularly the often
very elegant cut of the leaves and their odour, are very striking.
Unfortunately, such features are difficult to describe in words and often
greatly variable within a single species. The variability is often not only
caused genetically but also influenced by environmental factors , not only
climatic but also zoogenic or anthropogenic ones, such as grazing by animals or
cutting by humans. Under the latter impact, wormwoods form heavily branched,
stunted individuals with aberrant leaf forms, which might even lead to the
description of one or the other "new species". As Podlech points out,
wormwoods can only be truly understood if they are studied in the field over an
entire vegetation period. Herbarium material particularly of a particular
sub-genus, usually comprises either unidentifiable vegetative plants from early
collections or late-flowering and fruiting plants which have already lost their
basal leaves..... Misidentifications - even by specialists - are not rare in
herbaria...... The annual species only form a small minority within the genus,
but as colonising plants they are quite common around settlements, nomad camps,
livestock trails and cultivated areas" And thus are likely to be
disproportionately collected/noticed. In the 19th Century the earliest
explorers in the Himalaya (from 1830 onwards in the NW) obviously followed the
trails of the day (not necessarily the current road routes of today) and
nowadays with vehicular transport available a disproportionate number of
'road-side' plants (perhaps 'weeds') are photographed or collected. A majority
of botanical exploration since Indian Independence has consisted of collection
at the 'road-side' with little venturing or scrambling about far from the main
routes or undertaking of treks to less-visited locations.
Kletter & Kriechbaum went on to say, "The genus Artemisia in Central Asia and
the Himalaya still has not been sufficiently investigated".
They went on to make useful suggestions of groups of species based upon their
ecology from those dominant in relatively undisturbed high-altitude steppe and
semi-desert, through species dominating overgrazed areas because of their
unpalatability, through perennials with colonising abilities along paths &
roads, on abandoned fields or in wasteland around settlements to short-lived
plants colonising frequently disturbed soil in & around settlements and on
cultivated land.
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
From: Saroj Kasaju <[email protected]>
To: J.M. Garg <[email protected]>
Cc: efloraofindia <[email protected]>; C CHADWELL
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, 28 October 2016, 9:42
Subject: Re: Fwd: Artemisia macrocephala Jacquemont ex Besser
Any link between two?
Thank you.
http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/details/species/id/46f449278c776a164c78163dc4320431
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| Photo: Prashant Awale |
|
Common name: Large-Flowered Wormwood
Botanical name: Artemisia macrocephala Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
Synonyms: Artemisia akbaitalensis, Artemisia griffithiana, Artemisia
sieversiana var. pygmaea
Large-Flowered Wormwood is an annual herb, up to 20-30 cm tall, densely
whitish-grey hairy, with 6-8 cm long, well branched root. Stems are several
from the base or solitary, erect to ascending, ribbed, with 1.5-3 cm long
internodes. Basal and lower stem leaves are carried on 1.5-3 cm long, winged
stalks. Leaves are broadly ovate to round, 1.0-1.5 x 1.0-1.5 cm, bipinnately
cut into linear-oblanceolate, 2.5- 4 x 0.5-1 mm, apically obtuse ultimate
segments; medium and upper stem leaves subsessile to sessile, gradually reduced
in size. Flower-heads are remote, in simple, 10-12 cm long racemes,
hemispherical, usually 0.6-1 cm across, nodding. Lower peduncles are slender,
8-12 mm long, upper ones smaller, curved. Involucre 4-seriate, outermost
phyllaries linear-oblong, (3-) 4-5 mm long, densely hairy, obtuse; median
phyllaries narrowly obovate, 3-4 x 1.5-2 mm, green and densely hairy to
glabrescent on midrib, scarious-membranous alround; innermost ±
elliptic-obovate, 3.5-4.5 x 1.75-2.5 mm, obtuse, scarious, glabrous. Receptacle
is hemispherical, 2.5-3 mm in diameter, densely hairy. Florets are numerous,
all fertile, greenish-yellow; marginal florets female, eligulate, with c. 1.5
mm long, 2-toothed, basally broadened, glandular corolla, style branches
exserted; disc-florets bisexual, with 5-toothed, densely glandular, c. 2 mm
long, tubular corolla, anther appendages acute, protruding. Cypselas narrowly
oblanceolate, 1-1.5 mm long, light brown. Large-Flowered Wormwood is found in
China, Mongolia, Tibet, Russia, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, at altitudes
of 3400-5500 m. Flowering: June-September. |
On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 12:02 PM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote:
>From Chadwell ji:I have been able to make some progress with your images of an
>Artemisia taken in Nubra Valley by Saroj.
Being such a difficult genus it does not help not having good close-ups of
flower-heads nor foliage one has to be rather provisional but but I think it
may well be Artemisia sieversiana (an accepted name) which Stewart
found to be common in Kashmir & also found in Ladakh overall in the region from
2000-4500m.
On 19 October 2016 at 22:05, C CHADWELL <chrischadwell261@btinternet. com>
wrote:
See my previous comments about this very difficult genus. It will take a lot
oftime and effort for me to become more familiar with this challenging genus in
Ladakh.
In the mean-time, IF we have someone more familiar with the genus, would
theykindly comment.
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
From: J.M. Garg <[email protected]>
To: efloraofindia <[email protected] m>
Cc: Saroj Kasaju <[email protected]>; [email protected] m
Sent: Wednesday, 19 October 2016, 9:11
Subject: Fwd: Artemisia macrocephala Jacquemont ex Besser
Forwarding again for Id assistance please.Some earlier relevant feedback:
| This does not fit Artemisia macrocephala. See my previous comments about
this very difficult genus.- from Chadwell ji |
| Pl. check comparative images at Artemisia |
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Saroj Kasaju <[email protected]>
Date: 29 September 2016 at 20:09
Subject: Artemisia macrocephala Jacquemont ex Besser
To: efloraofindia <[email protected] m>, "J.M. Garg"
<[email protected]>
Dear Members,
Sharing some oictures I guess is Artemisia macrocephala Jacquemont ex Besser
shot at Nubra Valley on 21 August 2016.
Thank you.
Saroj Kasaju
--
With regards,
J.M.Garg'Creating awareness of IndianFlora & Fauna'Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow
Awards 2014 for efloraofindia.
For identification,learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, please
visit/ joinour EfloraofindiaGoogle e-group (largestin the world- around 2700
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database of more than11,000 species & 2,20,000 images). The whole world uses my
Image Resource of more than a thousand species & eight thousand images of
Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise). You can
also use them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each
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--
With regards,
J.M.Garg'Creating awareness of IndianFlora & Fauna'Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow
Awards 2014 for efloraofindia.
For identification,learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, please
visit/ joinour EfloraofindiaGoogle e-group (largestin the world- around 2700
members & 2,40,000 messages on 31.3.16) orEfloraofindia website (with a species
database of more than11,000 species & 2,20,000 images). The whole world uses my
Image Resource of more than a thousand species & eight thousand images of
Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise). You can
also use them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each
image.Also author of 'APhotoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of
India'.
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