Notes on Cinnamomum travancoricum Gamble ( Lauraceae )-a Critically Endangered species from the southern Western Ghats , India

Cinnamomum travancoricum Gamble was recollected after its type from Chemunji, Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in Kerala.  It had long been confused with C. sulphuratum Nees and several naturalists reported its collection from different parts of the Western Ghats for the last few years.  Taxonomic treatment along with distribution, ecology and color photographs are provided.


Cinnamomum
Schaeff.belongs to the family Lauraceae, with approximately 350 species distributed from Southeast Asia to Australia and the New World (Rohwer 1993;van der Werff 2009).The species was described by Gamble (1925) based on the specimen collected by T.F.Bourdillon from Chemunji Hills of Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve, Kerala, India in 1895.Owing to its affinity to C. sulphuratum Nees several botanists incorrectly reported this species from different localities (Ramachandran & Nair 1988;Mohanan & Sivadasan 2002;Geethakumary et al. 2013).During recent explorations in 2012 from the Kerala part of the Western Ghats, the present authors collected one unknown Cinnamomum species from Pandipath in Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve, Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.Scrutiny of the collected specimens and comparison with the type sheets deposited at L (Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden), CAL (Central National Herbarium, Howrah, India), TBGT (Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, India) proved that the collected material was C. travancoricum Gamble, a Critically Endangered and endemic plant with a very narrow distribution in Kerala.The misleading report of Geethakumary et al. (2013) from the Anamalai Hill ranges, however, confused us and it led us to the reinvestigation of the literature, type specimens and expert opinions to confirm the correct identity of the species.There are only a few small trees identified from the top edge of the hills.The present effort is a collection of the species after type specimen.Gamble in Kew Bull. 1925: 128. 1925& Fl. Madras 2: 1224. 1925;Bor, Man. Ind. For. Bot. 52. 1953;Kosterm., Bibl. Laur. 358. 1964;Chandras. in A.N. Henry et al. Fl. Tamil Nadu 2: 208. 1987; M. Mohanan & A.N. Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 392. 1994; Gopalan & A.N. Henry, Endemic Pl.Agasthyamala 81.2000; N. Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 568. 2002;Sasidh., Biodiv. Doc. Kerala -Fl. Pl. 397. 2004 (Images 1 & 2).
Flowering: February-April.Distribution: Endemic to the southern Western Ghats; Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram District).It is very rare in the high altitude wet evergreen forests, collected from Pandipath of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (Image 3).
Ecology: This species grows mainly along the wet evergreen forests at an altitude range of 1200-1500 m and the associated species are mainly Beilschmiedia jacobii Robi, Udayan & S. George, Elaeocarpus venustus Bedd., Garcinia travancorica Bedd., and Litsea gorayana Udayan & Robi.Only five mature individuals were noted on the hilltop.Natural regeneration of this species is very poor due to the fragmented forest patches.
Notes: In the protologue Gamble mentioned only one specimen, T.F.Bourdillon 545 (K000778624 image!), but there are well-preserved specimens at L, CAL, TBGT.While revising the genus Cinnamomum in southern India, Kostermans (1983)  According to Walter & Gillet (1997), the species was recorded as Vulnerable; however, the number of individuals identified from the locality was five.According to the IUCN Red List category and criteria, the extent of occurrence of C. travancoricum is estimated to be less than 50km2 in a single location with a decline in quality of habitat (CR B1ab(iii)).The total number of

Image 2 .
Herbarium sheet of Cinnamomum travancoricum Gamble (Coll.no 23319 (KFRI!)) mature individuals in the known population is less than 5 (D).Based on this evidence the conservation status of C. travancoricum is assessed as Critically Endangered (B1ab(iii)+D).