Scully’s Balsam Impatiens scullyi Hook.f. (Balsaminaceae): a new record for India from Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Impatiens scullyi Hook.f. is reported here as a new record for India as well as for the western Himalaya from Kullu and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh. To facilitate its identification, detailed description along with colour images are provided here.

Full text

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Ashutosh Sharma, Nidhan Singh & Wojciech Adamowski
26 June 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 8 | Pages: 14065–14070
DOI: 10.11609/jo.4823.11.8.14065-14070
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14065
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DOI: hps://doi.org/10.11609/jo.4823.11.8.14065-14070
Editor: P. Lakshminarasimhan, Botanical Survey of India, Pune, India.  26 June 2019 (online & print)
#4823 | Received 14 January 2019 | Final received 03 June 2019 | Finally accepted 12 June 2019
 Sharma, A., N. Singh & W. Adamowski (2019). Scully’s Balsam Impaens scullyi Hook.f. (Balsaminaceae): a new record for India from Himachal Pradesh.
Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(8): 14065–14070. hps://doi.org/10.11609/jo.4823.11.8.14065-14070
 © Sharma et al. 2019. Creave Commons Aribuon 4.0 Internaonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducon, and distribuon of this arcle
in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaon.
The work was self-nanced, no funding agency was involved.
 The authors declare no compeng interests.
Authors are thankful to Dr. Shinobu Akiyama for helping in inial idencaon of species, as well as Lesley Sco from Royal Botanic Garden
Edinburgh (E) herbarium and Dr. Hans-Joachim Esser from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich (MSG) herbarium for providing permissions to use pictures
of relevant specimens in our paper. We are also thankful to the Director, Forest Research Instute, Dehradun, for necessary permissions, to Dr. Praveen Kumar
Verma, Scienst B, Forest Botany Division, Herbarium Building, Forest Research Instute, Dehradun, to Dr. D.S. Rawat, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology, Pantnagar, Uarakhand and Dr. Anzar Khuroo, Centre for Biodiversity & Taxonomy, University of Kashmir, Srinagar for their help with literature. Dr.
Sheng-Xiang Yu and Dr. Bernhard Dickoré generously shared their knowledge on distribuon of conrmed and putave specimens of I. scullyi in Tibet, and Mr.
Subash Khatri provided pictures of specimens of I. scullyi, preserved in KATH herbarium.


&
1College of Horculture & Forestry, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horculture and Forestry, Neri, Hamirpur,
Himachal Pradesh 177001, India.
2Inder Bhan Post Graduate College, G.T. Road, Panipat, Haryana 132103, India.
3Białowieża Geobotanical Staon, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Sportowa 19, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland.
1 ashutoshsharma11sn@gmail.com, 2 nidhansinghkuk@gmail.com (corresponding author), 3 kruszczyk1989@yahoo.com

Impaens scullyi Hook.f. is reported here as a new record
for India as well as for the western Himalaya from Kullu and Mandi
districts of Himachal Pradesh. To facilitate its idencaon, detailed
descripon along with colour images are provided here.
 Angiosperm, balsam, ora, western Himalaya.
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online)
ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)


Impaens L. (Balsaminaceae) is one of the largest
genera of angiosperms in the world represented by
over 1,000 recognized species (Bhaskar 2012; Yu 2012;
Mabberley 2018) distributed in the tropical, subtropical,
and northern temperate regions of the Old World, with
several species reaching North America. In India, the
genus is represented by more than 210 taxa, mostly
distributed across the Himalaya and the Western Ghats
(Vivekananthan et al. 1997; Bhaskar 2012). According
to Gogoi et al. (2018), there are at present around 235
species of the genus in India.
During the recent botanical expedions to some
remote valleys of Kullu District in Himachal Pradesh,
the rst author came across an interesng Impaens
species which, aer detailed studies, turned out to be
Impaens scullyi Hook.f. A screening of the literature
revealed that this species was rst collected by J. Scully
from Nepal and was menoned by Sir J.D. Hooker from
central Nepal (Hooker 1904–1906). It was described in
detail later by Akiyama et al. (1991) from central and
eastern Nepal. The species was regarded as conned
to the country in the list of endemic plants of Nepal
(Rajbhandari et al. 2016). Yu (2012), however, reported
it from southern Tibet (Xizang).
Aer further crical analysis, the authors came
across an old specimen preserved at the herbarium of
the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, collected from
Sungri in Shimla in September 1888. This was idened
as Impaens micranthemum Edgew. probably by the
collector, Sir George Wa himself (Image 3A). The
collecon, however, was nally idened as Impaens
a. scullyi in 2015 by Dr. Shinobu Akiyama, who was
working on the revision of the Nepalese Impaens.

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2019 | 11(8): 14065–14070
Impaens scullyi from Himachal Pradesh Sharma et al.
14066
This specimen forms the only herbarium record for this
species (or its allies) from India, but its idencaon
was not conrmed. There is no informaon on I. scullyi
in botanical literature from the western Himalaya
(Chowdhery & Wadhwa 1984; Aswal & Mehrotra 1994;
Dhaliwal & Sharma 1999; Singh & Rawat 2000; Basu &
Uniyal 2002; Kaur & Sharma 2004; Klimeš & Dickoré
2005; Singh & Sharma 2006; Chawla et al. 2008, 2012;
Dad & Khan 2010; Verma & Sharma 2012; Dar et al. 2014;
Pal et al. 2014; Subramani et al. 2014; Singh et al. 2015;
Kumar et al. 2016; Das et al. 2018; Pusalkar & Srivastava
2018). As there is no record of this species from India,
the authors hereby report the newly collected specimen
as the rst authenc distribuon record of I. scullyi
Hook.f. from India.

  Hook.f. in Rec. Bot. Surv. India 4:
15. (1905); H. Hara in H. Hara & L.H.J. Williams, Enum.
Flow. Pl. Nepal 2: 80 (1979); S. Akiyama et al. in Bull.
Univ. Tokyo No. 34: 78 & Image 4C (1991).
Annual herbs, 30–90 cm tall, stem succulent, swollen
at nodes, oen roong from lower nodes. Leaves
alternate, aggregated at the apical part of stem; peole
10–20 mm long; lamina broadly lanceolate to oblong-
ovate, 8–14 cm x 4–6 cm, glabrous with crenate margins.
Inorescence racemose, 6–13 cm long, axillary, with
6–10 owers, owers congested on top of peduncle.
Pedicel 1.5–2 cm long, slender, glabrous, with a bract
at base. Bracts 3–4 mm long, narrowly ovate, acute at
apex. Flowers 1.4–2.0 cm x 1.2–2.8 cm. Lateral sepals
two, ovate, 3–4 mm long; lower sepal pale green to
white, 5–7 mm x 12–20 mm, tubular; spur inconspicuous.
Dorsal petal white, 4–6 mm x 6 mm, cucullate, with
thickened greenish midrib, ending in a short horn or
appendage; lateral united petals generally white to pale
rose-coloured (only observed in a few individuals) with
a yellow spot at the base of the lower lobe, 11–14 mm
long; the upper lobe ovate, c. 3mm x 2mm; the lower
lobe with two rounded lobes, 9–11 mm x 5–6 mm, with
a very characterisc long appendage (10–13 mm long)
elongang into the tubular lower sepal. Stamens ve;
anthers without appendage. Capsules unevenly linear,
2–3 cm long, green with pale yellowish stripes, enclosing
2–5 seeds. Seeds c. 4mm long (Images 1 & 2).
 Flowering was observed starng from
the end of June, commencing along with fruing unl
September. Seeds ripen in September–October.

Impaens scullyi is primarily a terrestrial species
growing along ravines in dense colonies and oen
beneath wet, dripping rocks in associaon with I. leggei,
I. devendrae, Urca ardens, Lecanthus peduncularis,
Pilea scripta, and Elatostema sessile.
Impaens scullyi is distributed between 1,600–2,400
m along ravines in Kullu and Mandi districts of Himachal
Pradesh. It is most likely also distributed in some
neighbouring districts, especially in Shimla, as can be
concluded from an old, inially misidened collecon.
A few images of this species, again misidened as I.
micranthemum, can be seen on eoraondia portal
(Eoraondia 2007 onwards), wherein one record
exists from the Great Himalayan Naonal Park of Kullu
District and two others from Shimla District. Both these
localies correspond to the same districts as observed
here, thus further conrming the present distribuon
evidence.
Impaens scullyi was reported from Nepal growing
between 1,800m and 2,630m (Akiyama et al. 1991) and
from southern Tibet between 700m and 2,400m (Yu
2012).

Impaens scullyi Hook.f. was earlier known only from
Nepal and southern Tibet in the central and eastern
Himalaya. We hereby present its rst distribuon
record from the western Himalaya. We assess this
species as Vulnerable in India as per the IUCN Red List
regional criteria due to its restricted and fragmented
distribuon range, as it is distributed only in a few
localies and that too with a low populaon of some
100 mature individuals. In both the surveyed locaons,
the species is generally distributed along ravines. Flash
oods in monsoon may pose some minor threat to the
plant populaon distributed along the ravines. Based
on eld surveys conducted in the last two years, we are
of the view that this taxon is restricted in its distribuon
for reasons yet unknown. Along with ash oods, the
compeon faced from other ercely growing plants of
the same habitat can also be one of the reasons for its
low populaon.

Edgeworth (1846) described many new species
from northwestern India on the basis of his own
herbarium collecon. For most species, he had not
only herbarium specimens but also the notes taken
from living plants at the moment of collecon. One
of these species is Impaens micranthemum Edgew.

Impaens scullyi from Himachal Pradesh Sharma et al.
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2019 | 11(8): 14065–14070 
(Edgeworth 1846: 40). In most sources, it is treated as
a synonym of I. laxiora Edgew. (Edgeworth 1846: 40;
Grey-Wilson 1991; The Plant List 2013). It was described
as having predominantly white or whish owers, but
inorescences with 3–4 owers, stems with sparse black
glands and round lower lobe of lateral united petals.
These features clearly dierenate it from I. scullyi,
as described by Hooker (1904–1906) and Akiyama et
al. (1991). There is, however, nothing in Edgeworth’s
descripon of I. micranthemum about a long appendage
on lateral united petals, characterisc of I. scullyi (see
Akiyama et al. 1991 and Image 2) and very rare in other
species of the Impaens genus.
The material of I. scullyi from Nepal (Akiyama et al.
1991) and southern Tibet (Yu 2012) look very similar to
the material from Himachal Pradesh. There are slight
dierences in the colour of the dierent ower parts and
the shape of lateral united petals, without taxonomic
.: 


Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2019 | 11(8): 14065–14070
Impaens scullyi from Himachal Pradesh Sharma et al.

signicance. Akiyama et al. (1991) comment that ower
size and shape of lateral united petals are variable in this
species.
Impaens scullyi seem to be more widely distributed
in Nepal, as conrmed by specimens from E (Royal Botanic
Garden Edinburgh Herbarium) and KATH herbaria
(Naonal Herbarium and Plant Laboratories, Lalitpur,
Nepal), as well as images from Langtang Naonal Park,
north of Kathmandu, posted on the iNaturalist portal
(iNaturalist) under the name I. edgeworthii. Impaens
edgeworthii could have white owers but has lower
sepal with disnct spur and the characterisc shape of
the upper lateral petal (for images, see (for images, see
Korina 2019).
There are two surprising records of I. scullyi from
the easternmost Himalaya, west of Namcha Barwa
Mountain (southeastern Tibet) on the Global Biodiversity
Informaon Facility portal (GBIF Secretariat). We tracked
these records in MSG herbarium (Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität, Munich) in Munich and found that these are
misidencaons of another balsam species with small,
coarsely crenate leaves and one-owered inorescences
(see Image 4).
  DD172573, 04.viii.2018,
India, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi District, Dhaved (near



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               

Khanni), 31.6530N & 77.2830E, 1,600–1,900 m, coll.
Ashutosh Sharma; DD172574, 15.viii.2018, India,
Himachal Pradesh, Kullu District, Jhuni, 31.8700N &
77.3240E, 1,800–2,100 m, coll. Ashutosh Sharma (Image
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
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hps://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2845.6427-52
   The Plant List. Available online at hps://www.
theplantlist.org. Accessed on 03.01.2019.
  Preliminary survey of angiospermic
ora of Kangra District (H.P), India. Indian Journal of Plant Sciences
1(1): 110–113.
       
  Balsaminaceae, pp95–229. In: Hajra, P.K., V.J. Nair
& P. Daniel (eds.). Flora of India (Maphighiaceae-Dichapetalaceae),
Vol. 4. Botanical Survey of India, Calcua.
   Balsaminaceae of China. Peking University Press,
Beijing, 215pp.





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

– Michael Homann, Alexei Abramov, Hoang Minh Duc, Le Trong Trai,
Barney Long, An Nguyen, Nguyen Truong Son, Ben Rawson,
Robert Timmins, Tran Van Bang & Daniel Willcox, Pp. 13951–13959


– Kangaraj Muthamizh Selvan, Bawa Mothilal Krishnakumar,
Pasiyappazham Ramasamy & Thangadurai Thinesh, Pp. 13960–13966

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris 

– Derek Andrew Roseneld & Crisane Schilbach Pizzuo, Pp. 13967–
13976
Pteropus giganteus


– Moe Moe Aung & Than Than Htay, Pp. 13977–13983

Cynopterus sphinx 

– Anisur Rahman & Parthankar Choudhury, Pp. 13984–13991

– Manokaran Kamalakannan & Paingamadathil Ommer Nameer,
Pp. 13992–14009


– Andrea R.M. D’Souza & Irvathur Krishnananda Pai, Pp. 14010–14021



–Jashwor Singh Irungbam & Meenakshi Jashwor Irungbam,
Pp. 14022–14050


Herpestes urva 

– Trishna Rayamajhi, Saneer Lamichhane, Aashish Gurung,
Pramod Raj Regmi, Chiranjibi Prasad Pokheral &
Babu Ram Lamichhane, Pp. 14051–14055
Ailurus fulgens


– Tawqir Bashir, Tapajit Bhaacharya, Kamal Poudyal &
Sambandam Sathyakumar, Pp. 14056–14061

Meroplius 
– Noor Fama, Ansa Tamkeen & Muhammad Asghar Hassan,
Pp. 14062–14064


– Ashutosh Sharma, Nidhan Singh & Wojciech Adamowski,
Pp. 14065–14070



– Subrat Debata & Sharat Kumar Palita, Pp. 14071–14074

– Umeshkumar Lalchand Tiwari, Pp. 14075–14079


– Johny Kumar Tagore, Ponnaiah Jansirani & Sebasan Soosairaj,
Pp. 14080–14082
Trigonella uncata 

– Shrikant Ingalhalikar & Adiya Vishwanath Dharap, Pp. 14083–14086

Member
Threatened Taxa


