*There seems to be different interpretations of Geranium mascatense and G.ocellatum. This specimen does not show gaps between petals as is the case with most images of G.mascatense taken in the Gulf - see below.*
'The Plant List' gives G.ocellatum as a synonym of the former. Whereas Nasir in 'Flora of Pakistan' separates the two. Stewart does not list G,mascatense at all but has *G.ocellatum* var. *himalaicum* as common from 300-1800m. Nasir, on the other hand, says that G.mascatense is only sparingly recorded from Pakistan and then only in Baluchistan. G.mascatense is recorded from Africa and the Gulf - so Baluchistan fits OK with this. Collet had G.ocellatum in hill districts of N.India from same altitudes as Stewart. IF they constitute separate species, I find it somewhat surprising to have G.mascatense in the Himalayan foothills. I do not know on whose authority G.ocellatum has been sunk into G.mascatense. According to Nasir the species are very close but G.mascatense has puberulous mericarps - translating that into English: in Geranium the dry fruits consists of 5 'mericarps' each with a seed, which may be explosively dispersed though sometimes remains inside) the 'puberulous' part means downy with very short soft hairs. *So clearly, unless one can observe the fruits of a geranium this characteristic cannot be ascertained. No doubt Nasir knew of other differences.* *Taking a quick look at the images for G.mascastense available on the internet, most show marked gaps between the petals (as do the images taken in Muscat in the posting above this) compared with images of specimens from the foothills of the NW Himalaya (incl. the one near Chakki) which may constitute sufficient to justify them as separate taxa but without careful study of the whole plants cannot speculate if that is sufficient (or a consistent difference) to justify separation as varieties, subspecies or at the species level but the geographic/altitudinal/climatic differences may be of significance.* *Cannot comment further at this stage.* On Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 3:10:28 AM UTC, Gurcharan Singh wrote: > *Geranium ocellatum* Camb. in Jacq. Voy. Ind. 4, Bot. 33. 1844. > Syn: *Geranium* *bicolor* Royle; *Geranium* *choorense* Royle; *Geranium* > *ocellatum* var. *himalaicum* Knuth > > A very distinctive among small flowered species with with pink flowers > with dark base; erect or ascending annual herb with glandular hairs; > stipules lanceolate, free; leaves opposite rounded to reniform, up to 6 cm > broad, deeply 5-7 lobed, segments again 3 or more lobed, appressed hairy; > flowers pink with dark purplish basal spot, solitary or in 2-flowered > clusters, 10-15 mm across; sepals 4-7 mm long, mucro very small; petals > twice as long as sepals, obovate; mericarps transeversely wrinkled, beak > up to 15 mm long. > > Photographed from Morni. Sorry for missing one petal. > I am treating it distinct from G. mascatense following eFlora of China, > Pakistan and GRIN > > -- > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > Retired Associate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
