Rediscovery of four narrow endemic Didymocarpus species (Gesneriaceae) from Mizoram, India, with revised species descriptions and lectotypifications

Abstract

Here we report the rediscovery of four endemic gesneriads from the state of Mizoram, India, after a span of 86 to 90 years since their last collection. The four species belong to the genus Didymocarpus Wall. and they are: D. adenocarpus, D. lineicapsa, D. parryorum, and D. wengeri. We present revised morphological descriptions, photographs, and designate lectotypes for D. parryorum and D. wengeri. During our study we came across several discrepancies between morphological characters assigned to these four species in the protologue and morphological characters present (or absent) in the type specimens and in plants recollected by us. We list these discrepancies in a section titled ‘amendments to protologue’. Based on the high endemicity and critical conservation status of all the four rediscovered species, we suggest that floristic studies along with large-scale biogeographic studies should be prioritized in the Indo-Burmese region.