I must express doubts/question marks as to the Soroseris records byPusalkar &
Singh.
In Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal (Vol III, 1982) the
authorsstate that S.gillii (S.Moore) Stebb. subsp. occidentalis was recorded
fromGarwhal to Nepal & Tibet.
They observed that the leaves of two specimens recorded varied from being
almostentire to shallowly pinnatifid. A specimen from the 1952 Polunin, Sykes
& Williamsexpedition to Nepal was determined as S.hookeriana near subsp.
erysimoides, thedistinctions between S.hookeriana and S.gillii were not clear,
as Stebbins noted in1940 and FURTHER STUDY WAS REQUIRED TO DETERMINE WHETHER
THEDIFFERENCES WERE SUFFICIENT TO SEPARATE THEM AS SPECIES.
S.glomerata (Decne.) Stebb. was recorded from Almora, Garwhal, Nepal & Tibet.As
it was only known from 4600-4800m in Nepal the record from Almora
seemsextraordinary to me!
As for 'Flora of Bhutan' Vol 2 Part 3 (2001) which covered Asteraceae,
specimensfrom border districts were only doubtfully included within
S.hookeriana, appearingintermediate with S.hirsuta (Anthony) Shih
[S.gillii(S.Moore) Stebbins subsp. hirsuta].
As for The Plant List, this has S.gillii relegated to a synonym of S.hookeriana!
This suggests to me that Soroseris is a difficult genus. Would Pulsakar& Singh
have consulted Internationally?
Further study of this genus is SURELY required. IF voucher duplicate pressed
specimens are not sent from India to specialists abroad, how can the authors of
floras in India have fullconfidence with their 'determinations'?
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
From: D.S Rawat <[email protected]>
To: efloraofindia <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, 25 February 2017, 11:46
Subject: Re: Soroseris hookeriana - a NEW genus for eFI??
Soroseris genus (Asteraceae, Cichorieae) is represented by two species in
Uttarakhand:
1. S. gillii (S.Moore) Stebbins
2. S. glomerata (Decne.) Stebbins
Both are known from Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand and mentioned as rare
(Pusalkar & Singh 2012).
However, S. hookeriana is not known in Uttarakhand yet.
DSRawat Pantnagar
On Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 9:07:55 AM UTC+5:30, JM Garg wrote:
Thanks a lot, Chadwell ji.I do not find any single match in efi site for
Soroseris
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: C CHADWELL <chrischadwell261@btinternet. com>
Date: 24 February 2017 at 18:39
Subject: Soroseris hookeriana - a NEW genus for eFI??
To: "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]>
I do not know which tribe Soroseris belongs to, so may have missed this
genusamongst the listings for Asteraceae on eFI- repeat that I find the
sub-division of Asteraceae(large though the family is) into tribes does not
help me.
I have always operated primarily with GENERA. When I come across a plant in
the UK orthe Himalaya that I do not immediately recognise which SPECIES it
belongs to, I start thinkingwhich genus? Failing that, which family? I do not
think in terms of tribes. I have found very fewpeople think in terms of
families and almost none of tribes.
In the past, both floras and guides (such as Flowers of the Himalaya) were
arranged 'Systematically'by supposedly related families. I NEVER found this
helpful, so rapidly adopted a ALPHABETICALapproach, which I encourage (although
as one can see on eFI) there have been many name changesof families in recent
decades. Nowadays in the UK, very few people learn about plant families or
evenif they know lots of them, think in terms of which other families are
closely-related.
Regardless of whether the genus or species is new to eFI, I doubt if there will
have been manypostings - as like, Fritillaria delavayii, which I have just
posted about, this species is another'high' alpine. Not many botanists or
other members of this group from India have reached suchelevations particularly
if major treks are required.
The image below was scanned in from a slide taken in the early 1990s when I was
working as a consultantto The Royal Government of Bhutan. The pressed specimen
was collected for the mini-herbarium at theNational Institute of Traditional
Medicine, Thimphu on stony slopes at some 4400m on Yak La, Lingshi districtin
July 1990.
Soroseris hookeriana is illustrated in 'Flowers of the Himalaya' recorded on
stony slopes & screes in drierareas from Himachal Pradesh to SE Tibet @
4300-5500m. Is this known from Uttarakhand, I wonder?
Flora of Bhutan records this from among boulders and on screes @ 3650-4720m in
Sikkim, Chumbi and Bhutan.Populations in NE Bhutan and the Sikkim/Chumbi border
do not fit well within this species, seeming to beintermediate between this
species and S.hirsuta.
This flora also records S.erysimoides from Bhutan & Chumbi on screes @ 4-4600m.
The authors observe thatfew populations correspond well with this species.
Some appear close to S.hookeriana.
Such taxonomic uncertainty is beyond the scope of eFI plus I do not envisage
too many formal botanicalexpeditions exploring much in these regions in the
coming years and even if they do, it is unlikely that anyimages will be shared
with this site. So we need not concern ourselves too much with these matters,
exceptto be aware that even the world's leading taxonomists at the top
institutions find it difficult to be certain as towhich species some specimens
belong to.
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
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J.M.Garg'Creating awareness of IndianFlora & Fauna'Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow
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