Range extension of Trigonella uncata Boiss . & Noë ( Leguminosae ) in peninsular India and a new record for Maharashtra State , India

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T. incisa, and T. occulta) are easily distinguished based on the characters reported in the literature. Trigonella foenum-graecum is either cultivated or naturalized in some places. Trigonella uncata and T. obcordata, however, have a large number of overlapping characters. None of the characters reported in Indian floras or monographs were useful in differentiating these species. The unavailability of a national key for the Trigonella species made the task more difficult. Hence, in order to clearly distinguish the two species, we consulted other relevant literature and herbarium specimens.
The identification of the collected specimens was confirmed after viewing the images of the type of T. uncata housed in herbaria Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (P) and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (W). There is no mention of peduncle length of the species in Shetty & Singh (1987). The description of T. uncata in Shah et al. (1968) indicates the peduncle length to be less than that of the leaves. The type specimen housed in W (W -Rchb. 1889-0361491) and P (MNHN-P-P02952755), however, clearly showed the peduncles to be longer than the leaves. This feature was further evident after viewing the images of more herbarium specimens from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (K) (K000998695 Image!) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (E) (E00336751 Image!).
We also checked the description of T. obcordata in Duthie (1960), which mentions racemes equaling or shorter than the leaves as one of the characters for T. obcordata Wall. On consulting The Wallich Catalogue 5986, a specimen of T. obcordata (K001122698 Image!) Leguminosae is one of the most diverse and widely distributed families in India. While exploring the flowering plants around Pune District in Maharashtra State, India, in 2018, we found a herb belonging to the genus Trigonella L. of Leguminosae. In subsequent surveys, specimens were collected from Lonavala, Talegaon Dabhade, and Bhugaon in the district. Detailed photo-documentation was carried out with the fresh specimens.
A total of 12 Trigonella species are listed in India (Sanjappa 1992), but a key has not been provided. Out of these, six are reported only from the Himalayan and sub -Himalayan regions. The Trigonella species reported from northwestern and central Indian regions are T. corniculata, T. incisa, T. occulta, T. obcordata, T. foenumgraecum, and T. uncata. For the identification of our specimens, a key was prepared using their characters reported by Duthie (1960), Shah (1968), Shetty &Singh (1987), andVerma et al. (1993).
Three of the six species reported from the northwestern and central Indian regions (T. corniculata, collected in Tikari (mentioned by Sirjaev 1928) and housed in K, we found the peduncles of the specimen to be much shorter than the leaves. Sanjappa (1992) mentions the catalogue number as 5989, which seems to be erroneous as it refers to a species of Vitis mentioned on page 205 of The Wallich Catalogue.
The two species also differ in having different pod shapes. Sirjaev (1928) in description of T. obcordata mentions pods to be straight or a little curved (also evident in K001122698), while the description of T. uncata says pods are a little arcuate to semicircular (also clearly visible in W -Rchb. 1889-0361491). The illustrations in Sirjaev (1928) also clearly depict these features. The pods in our collected specimens are arcuate to semicircular.
Considering the specimens, peduncle length and pod shape can be used as key characters that distinguish T. obcordata and T. uncata. We concluded that the collected specimens belong to Trigonella uncata Boiss. & Noë.
This species was not reported from Maharashtra in the earlier regional floras by Cooke (1903), Santapau (1967, Almeida (1998), andSingh et al. (2000). Sanjappa (1992), in his list of Trigonella species from India, only mentions Gujarat and Rajasthan in the distribution of T. uncata. Hence, our collection from Pune District extends the known distribution of the species in peninsular India to include Maharashtra and is a new record for the state.
There have been different opinions regarding the identity and nomenclature of this species. Townsend (1968) considered T. uncata to be a subspecies of T. hamosa (Trigonella hamosa ssp. uncata). According to him, "The differences between T. hamosa and T. uncata are slight and purely of degree, are correlated with geographical distribution, and it seems best to regard them as subspecies". Later, Lassen (1987) treated it as T. glabra ssp. uncata (Boiss. & Noë) Lassen; the same was used by The Plant List (2013) for which T. uncata is given as a synonym. Sanjappa (1992), however, treated it as a separate species. The determinavit slip on type sheet from W (W -Rchb. 1889-0361491) also mentions the species as T. uncata. Taxonomic resolution of the species is beyond the scope of the current paper. Hence we place the current specimens under T. uncata following Sanjappa (1992).
We suggest here a key to aid identification of Trigonella uncata Boiss. & Noë.