BRIT Press

TAXONOMIC HISTORY, REDISCOVERY, AND ASSESSMENT OF THREAT STATUS OF STREBLUS

ILICIFOLIUS (MORACEAE) FROM INDIA
Author(s): Bikarma Singh, Arun Chettri, Dibyendu Adhikari and Saroj K. Barik
Source: Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Vol. 6, No. 2 (23 NOVEMBER 2012),
pp. 611-614
Published by: Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41972449
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TAXONOMIC HISTORY, REDISCOVERY, AND ASSESSMENT OF THREAT STATUS
OF STREBLUS ILICIFOLIUS (MORACEAE) FROM INDIA

Bikarma Singh, Arun Chettri,Dibyendu Adhikari, and Saroj K. Barik1

for
Centre Advanced inBotany
Studies
ofLife
School Sciences
-Eastern
North Hill
University, 793022,INDIA
Shillong
ABSTRACT
Streblus (S.Vidal)
ilicifolius wasreported
Corner first in1914
time from
Lushai the
Hills, presentdayMizoram ofIndia.
state For96years,
this
wasthe known
only record
for
the from
species Inthis
India. the
paper, rediscovery - after
ofS.ilicifolius agapofnearly - is
100years
andthe
reported, report a state
represents new
recordto
the state
of
north-eastern The
Meghalaya. collection taxonomie
history, description
with
illustrations
anddistribution
map, habitat associated
characteristics, andthreat
species, ofthe
status arepresented.
species
RESUMEN
Streblus (S. se
Corner
Vidal)
ilicifolius citó
por vez
primera en 1914delasLushai
Hills, estado
actualmente deMizoram delaIndia. 96
Durante
este
años, fueelúnico delaIndia.
delaespecie
registro Enesteartículo
secita
elredescubrimiento - después
deS.ilicifolius deunintervalo
decasi100años- ylacita
esnueva elestado
para nordestino
deMeghalaya.Sepresenta delacolección,
unahistoria taxonómi-
descripción
caconilustraciones
ymapadedistribución, delhábitat,
características yestado
asociadas,
especies deamenazadelaespecies.

INTRODUCTION
Thegenus StreblusLour,comprises 25species(Mabberley 2008;Bergetal.2006)distributed mostly intropical
andsubtropicalAsia(Haridasan & Rao1987).InChina,thegenusisrepresented bysevenspeciesviz.,S. tax-
oides(Roth)Kurz,S. tonkinensis (Dubard& Eberhardt) Corner, 5. asperLour.,S. indicus(Bureau) Corner, S.
(Thwaites)
zeylanicus Kurz, S. (S.
ilicifolius Vidal) Corner and S. macrophyllus Blume (Fuetal.2003). There are
four speciesinIndiaviz.,S. asper
Streblus ; S. ilicifolius
, S. zeylanicus, andS. indicus(Haridasan & Rao1987).
two
Only species viz., S. asper and S. were
ilicifolius reported from north-eastern India byKanjilalandBor
(1940).WhileS. ilicifoliuswasrestricted only to one site in Lushai 5.
Hills, was
asper reported tohavemore
common occurrence intheformer undivided province of Assam (Kanjilal& Bor 1940).Haridasan andRao
also
(1987) reported the occurrence of S. from
asper Baghmara inGaro HillsofMeghalaya.
Streblus (S.Vidal)
ilicifolius Corner hasnotbeencollected and/or reportedbyanyworker sinceitsfirstre-
U.
portby Kanjilal in 1914 (ASSAM herbarium/Accession no. 28476, 28477 & 28478) from Lushai Hillsin
northeasternIndiaunderthenameBalanostreblus ilicifoliaKurz. These accessions were renamed by G.K.
Upadhaya in2008as Streblus (S.Vidal)Corner.
ilicifolius Thespecieshasa veryrestricted occurrence, andis
found onlyon calcareous habitat. The occurrence of S. in
ilicifoliusMeghalaya has beenrecorded and is re-
portedforthefirsttime, thereby extending the known distribution ofthespeciesin South-East Asia.

ANDMETHODS
MATERIALS
During thefloristic
exploration anditsadjoining
ofNongtrai areasinSheila, specimens
Meghalaya, ofStreblus
(Fig.1A)werecollected,
ilicifolius and
processed, housed in theASSAM herbarium atBotanical
SurveyofIn-
dia,EasternRegional Circle,
Shillong,
Meghalaya. the
During survey, thehabitat associated
conditions, spe-
ciesaswellasbiotic andabiotic towhichthespeciesisexposedtowerealsorecorded.
pressures Basedonthe
populationdata,andhabitatcharacteristics, wasassessedforthreat
thespecies 2001IUCN
following
category
RedListCategories andCriteria 3.1(IUCN2001)
version and for
Guidelines UsingtheIUCN Red List
Catego-
riesandCriteria(IUCN2010).

1Corresponding
author:
sarojkbarik@yahoo.com
J. Res.
Bot. Inst.
Texas 611-614.
6(2): 2012

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
612 oftheBotanical
Journal Research
Institute
ofTexas
6(2)

RESULTS
After critical
observation
ofthenewlycollected specimens,andcomparison withtheexistingherbarium
specimens housedatASSAM, andtheoriginal theidentity
description, ofthespecies
wasconfirmed
asStreblus
(S.Vidal)Corner.
ilicifolius Thelocationmapandphotographs ofliveandherbarium ofthespecies
specimens
(Fig.1)alongwitha linedrawing(Fig.2) aregiven.
TAXONOMIC TREATMENT
Streblus
ilicifolius(S.Vidal)Corner,Gard.Bull.Singapore19:227.1962.Taxotrophis S.Vidal,Revis.
ilici/olia
Pl.Vase.Filip.249.1886.
obtusa
Taxotrophis Leafl.
Elmer, Bot.
Philipp. 1913.
5:813.
Taxotrophis Bull.
Gamble,
triapiculata Misc.
Inform.
Kew 1913.
188.
1913.
Taxotrophis W.C.
aquifolioidesKo,Acta Sin.
Phytotax. 8:353.
1963.
Balanostreblus J.Asiat.
Kurz,
ilicifolia Soc.Bengal,
Pt.2,Nat.
Hist.
42:248.
1874.
Pseudotrophis
laxiflora Bot.
Warb., Jahrb. 13:295.
Syst. 1891.
Bushyscandent spinousshrubs, 2.5-3m tall,often gregarious in patches; dioecious; stemssolitary,few
branched, darkbrown; barkgrayish white, smooth, withlatex;branchlets glabrous, divaricateorangular;
spinesstraight, 1-2cmlong;stipules tapered, 0.4-0.5cmlong,caducous. Leavesmostly solitary,
longerthan
broad;leaflets alternate,distichous, 1.4-5cmlong,0.6-2.5cmwide,elliptic tooblong-obovate, thicklyleath-
ery,theabaxialsurface darkgreen, withcystoliths, theadaxialsurface lightgreen, glabrousandshiny, the
margin loosely revolute, with5 ormorespinyteeth, theapexacute,blunt, with2 or3 spinyteeth, thebase
cuneate todecurrent; themidveins conspicuous onbothsidesandtheabaxialsurface prominent; thesecond-
aryveinspinnate, theabaxialsurface inconspicuous, the adaxial surface slightly depressed; petioles0.3-0.4
cmlong,transversely verrucose.
Maleinflorescences axillary, cylindric catkin-like spikes, 0.5-1.2
spicate, cm;
thebracts conspicuous, imbricate,margin dark.Femaleinflorescences shortly spicate, inpendent racemes, 2
to6-flowered; thebracts minute. Maleflowers: shortlypedicellate; lobe ±
perianth 4,free, orbicular, margin
inflexed andciliate; 3.2-3.5cmlong,branched.
pistillode Femaleflowers: perianth lobe4,opposite, outer2
smaller; ovaryoblique, fleshy,glabrous. Fruits: on
drupes brachyblasts, globose, 0.8-1.2 cm long, 0.8-1.1cm
wide,withpersistent bracts,halfenclosed the
by persistent perianth lobes.
Habitat, Distribution,andPhenology .- Thespecieswasrecorded atanelevation of47.5ma.s.l.intropical
forestofPhlangkaruh inNongtrai area,Sheila It
(Fig.1). grows in limestone areas, onrocky
and substratum.
Thealtitudinal distributionrange of thespecies is40-500 m a.s.l.
The species is distributedin Meghalaya and
Mizoram (LushaiHills)inIndia,Bangladesh, China,Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,Thailand
andVietnam. Thespeciesflowers inMarch-April andfruits inMay-June.
Voucherspecimens:INDIA. Meghalaya:
Nongtrai inEast
village KhasiHills 25°11.171
district, N& 91°37.202 E,30Oct2010, etal.
Singh
74965& 74966 (ASSAM).Additional
specimensexamined: INDIA.Mizoram: Lushai Hills,
Jul1914, 28478,
Kanjilal 28476& 28477
(AS-
SAM).
Threatened - Notyetevaluated
Status. byIUCN.Inspiteofrepeated search intheentire stateofMeghalaya in
10kmX10kmgrids, onlyonepopulation with6 individuals ofthespecies couldbelocated inNongtrai village.
Alltheindividuals inthislocality
wereadults andwereinfruiting stage. Noseedling andsapling ofthespecies
wasencountered, indicatingpoorregeneration ofthespecies.Oneoftheimportant featuresofthehabitat of
thisspeciespopulation wasKarsttopography. Themainfeatures ofKarsttopography arelimestone terrain,
andtheabsence ofsurface water flow.Thespecieswasclassified from threatperspective basedonpopulation
size,extent ofoccurrence, areaofoccupancy, andhabitat quality (Table1)following 2001IUCNRedListCat-
egoriesandCriteria version3.1(IUCN2001).Thespecies wasclassified as "Critically endangered" [CRAI,(a,
b,c,d);B2.a,b (ii,iv,v);C2.a(i)].
DISCUSSION
Withthisnewreport
ofthespeciesfrom andrediscovery
Meghalaya, after 100yearsofitsfirst
nearly report

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 ofStreblus
etal.,Rediscovery
Singh inIndia
ilicifolius 613

Fig. ofnortheastern
I.A.Map India (•) ofStreblus
locations
showing B.Close
ilicifolius,view
ofthe C.Herbarium
plant, with and
D.
fruit,
specimen
Herbarium with
specimenvegetative
growth.

fromIndia,theexistenceofthespeciesinthecountry isconfirmed alongwithnewextension ofitsgeographi-

area.Theplants
caldistribution in
weregrowing calcareous andmoist under-canopyhabitat.
Theassociated
specieswereBreyniarhamnoides Muell.-Arg., FicushirtaVahl,TetrameiesnudißoraR.Br.,Caryotaurens L.,
BauhiniapurpureaL.,Alstoniascholaris (L.) R.Br.,Antidesma acuminatum Wight, Artocarpusheterophyllus
Lam.,Brassaiopsis
glomerulata (Blume) Regel, Cayratiapedata(Lam.)Juss.exGagnep., Duabanga grandiflora
(Roxb.exDC.)Walp.
Thehabitat is increasingly
ofS. ilicifolius exposedtodisturbance duetoforestclearanceforlargescale
mining. small
Besides, scaleprivate limestone isalso
quarrying destroying thenaturalhabitat
ofthespecies.
In
viewofhighintensityof disturbance toitsnatural and
habitat, poorregeneration as observedinthe the
field,
speciesmightbecomeextinct inthenearfuture, unlessadequate conservation
measures forthespeciesare

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614 Journal
oftheBotanical
Research
Institute
ofTexas
6(2)

Table
1.Population
data
forStreblusilicifolius
used
for
classification
ofthreatened of asper
species
categories IUCN
(2010).
A.Population
reduction A1.>30% decline
pergeneration
(a)Direct
observation:
verylessoccurrences
(b)Densityper10m2:1individual
(c)Qualityofhabitat:
disturbed, karst
fragmented, topography
(d)Exploitation:
exposedtodisturbance
duetolimestone
mining
B.Geographic
range B2.Area ofoccupancy < 10km2
(AOO):
(a)Severely 1location
fragmented,
decline
(b)Continuing
(ii)Area
ofoccupancy:100m2
(IV)Numberoflocations:
1
(v)Numberofmatureindividuals:
6
C.Small sizeanddecline
population
Number ofmatureIndividuals:
<250
C2.Continuingdecline
(ai)Number ofmature ineachsubpopulation:
individuals <50

taken.Thespeciescanbeconserved insituthroughhabitat
protec-
tionandbyundertaking severalex situconservationmeasures
suchasmultiplyingandintroducing
thespeciesinthewildthrough
micro-propagation, field
establishing gene banks andconserving
thespeciesintheexisting
institutional
botanicalgardens.Consid-
the ofthe in
ering poorregeneration species nature, thereis a need
tounderstand thereproductive and
biology ecology ofthespecies
toensureitsperpetuation
innaturalaswellasintroducedhabitats.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AuthorsarethankfultotheHead,Centre forAdvanced Studiesin
Botany,SchoolofLife North
Sciences, EasternHillUniversity,for
providing facilities.
laboratory Wealsothanktheanonymous re-
viewersfortheirvaluable
comments andsuggestions toimprove
theearlier
version
ofthemanuscript.Wewouldalsoliketoexpress
ourgratitudetotheJoint
Director,Botanical
Survey ofIndia,East-
ernQrcle,Shillongforhelpingus inproviding
herbarium andli-
brarysupport.
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