Beautiful Shot Sir. I could not find this in my collection!!. Thanks for Sharing
On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 2:18 PM, Gurcharan Singh <[email protected]> wrote: > *Boehmeria japonica* (L.f.) Miq. > syn: B. macrophylla var. scabrella (Wedd.) Long; B. platyphylla var. > scabrella Wedd.; B. longispica Steud. > > Perennial herb reaching 1.5 m tall; leaves opposite, subequal in size, > ovate-suborbicular or ovate, up to 5-10 cm in our plant (up to 17 cm in > type plant) long, papery, secondary veins 1-3 pairs along midvein, margin > serrate-dentate (deeply dentate in type plant), abaxial surface rugose > with reticulate veins strongly raised, adaxial surface stiffly hispid, apex > gradually acuminate, base cuneate; spikes simple, rarely branched, erect,, > male shorter than female spikes, latter not reaching the apex of subtending > leaf; male flowers 4-merous, sessile; fruiting perianth obovoid, > compressed, with 2-toothed apex. > > Photographed from Tiger fall area in Chakrata in September. > > This plant is described in Flora of British India (vol. 5, page 578) as > Boehmeria platyphylla var. scabrella wedd, characterised by leaves rugose > above and short erect subsimple spikes. In Flora of China this plant is > treated as B. macrophylla var. *scabrella* (Wedd.) D G Long, with Leaf > blade 4.5-7(-10) × 2-4(-6) cm, papery, abaxial surface with reticulate > veins strongly raised, adaxial surface rugose, stiffly hispid, apex > gradually acuminate as against var.* macrophylla* with Leaf blade 6.5-18 > × 3.2-12 cm, often membranous, abaxial surface appressed strigose, > reticulate veins slightly raised, adaxial surface sparsely strigose, apex > long-cuspidate, 1.5-2 cm. Female spikes ± branched, nodding at apex. > > http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=50511&flora_id=2 > > > > It must be noted that var. *scabrella *together with Boehmeria longispica > which is very similar to this and resembling our plant as seen in the link > below are now considered as synonyms of Boehmeria japonica. > > > http://findmeacure.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Boehmeria_longispica_in_Sendai_Japan.jpg > > Perhaps the crucial difference between B. macrophylla (uploaded already by > me in separate thread and by Dinesh ji on FOI) has membranous leaves with > long slender branched spikes and our above plant B. japonica characterised > by thicker (papery) leaves, rugose above with raised veins and stiff erect > unbranched spikes. > > Please note that B. japonica is a polymorphic species with typical plants > (see Flora China which treats our plant under B. macrophylla var. > scabrella) having upper part of leaf with deep teeth. This would naturally > change with inclusion of above synonyms as per The Plant List. > > > > -- > 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://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
