The name Senecio chrysanthemoides caught my eye. This was the 10th plant my team collected on the University of Southampton Ladakh Expedition 1980 - at some 3300m at Panichar in the Suru Valley; it was common and variable, the specimens pressed were from a grassy verge beside irrigation channels & barley fields in moist loamy soil amongst Trifolium, grasses, Geranium himalayense; bright yellow ray-florets, disc florets brown. *Naturally, a plant growing in Ladakh will not 'match' exactly one found under wetter conditions thousands of feet lower in Nepal.*
*At present, all I can say is Senecio sp. - the situation is complicated.* Flora of Kathmandu Valley lists S.chrysanthemoides and 5 others, with two locations given: Godawari 1676m & Manichur 2255m; there is a key to the species of Senecio but after separating S.scandens as a climber, the rest are separated on the basis of the anther-cells being tailed below or obtuse at the base, not produced downwards into tails - clearly not a lot of use unless one has pressed specimens to examine! The Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal recognised var. chrysanthemoides and var. spectabilis. This work says S.diversifolius is distinguished from S.chrysanthemoides by its larger capitula and red pappus, although both these characters are variable. Further investigation may show that S.diversifolius should be included in S.chrysanthemoides. The current 'Plant List' has S.chrysanthemoides as an accepted name but S.diversifolius is unresolved. Some of the images of this species available look close to those taken by Saroj - obviously one cannot see the pappus hairs. 'Flora of Bhutan' (2001) has S.chrysanthemoides as only a synonym of Senecio laetus, whilst S.diversifolius is given as a synonym of Senecio raphanifolius. The authors say some specimens are intermediate between the two! Both of these species are accepted names in 'The Plant List'. *Clearly, the genus Senecio requires further study including in Nepal - the references I have given above covering Nepal are decades out-of-date.* Flowers of the Himalaya says shrubberies & open slopes, common & gregarious from 2400-4000m Pakistan to SW China. Stewart found this to be common and very variable in Kashmir from 1700-4000m; he considered the forms needed to be studied in cultivation and that chromosome counts should be made. Collet in Flora Simlensis found S.chrysanthemoides to be common at Shimla & Mahasu but this is almost a century out-of-date. S.chrysanthemoides was recorded in 'The Valley of Flowers' book but this is very out-of-date; I have noted quite a number of misidentifications. On Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 2:27:06 PM UTC, Saroj Kumar Kasaju wrote: > Dear Members, > > Location: Kalinchowk, Dolakha, Nepal > Altitude: 8000 ft. > Date: 24 July 2014 > > Thank you. > > Saroj Kasaju > -- 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.
