Cryptocoryne sivadasanii (Araceae), a new species from India

The genus Cryptocoryne, with about 50 species, is distributed in tropical mainland Asia and the Malesian Archipelago (Mayo & al. 1997). In India five species have been recognized hitherto. The genus is characterized by a small spadix included in the basal tubular portion of the spathe, called a kettle. The female flowers are few in number and arranged in a single whorl, forming a syncarp. The male flowers have two horn-like tubular projections at the top of the anther. During the course of the revisionary study of the Araceae of India in general and a detailed taxonomic survey of the genus Cryptocoryne of S India in particular, some specimens were collected from the Kerala and Karnataka states, which have been referred to C. consobrina Schott (Sivadasan 1985, Jacobsen & al. 1989). Observed differences from typical C. consobrina were thought to be due to environmental factors. Later Bhat (2003) identified the plants from Karnataka as C. crispatula Engl., of which they differ, however, in several characters. The dispute about the taxonomy of the S Indian plants prompted their detailed study, which finally revealed that the plants in question represent a new species so that India now has six species of Cryptocoryne.