నైరూప్య

Review on Malvacae and Rubiaceae Family

Amit Chaudhari, Pradip Ghogare

The Malvaceae, or the mallows, in the order of Malvales, is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants, consisting of about 244 genera with approximately 4225 species, distributed in tropical to temperate regions. Plants are herbs, shrubs, or trees, usually with stellate hairs. Stems are bastfiber robust with mucilage cavity. Leaves are simple, alternate, palmately divided, serrate, rarely entire, palmately veined, with stipules, and petiolate. Flowers are bisexual, actinomorphic, solitary, fascicled, or arranged to cymes or panicles. Epicalyx are often present, forming an involucre around calyx, three to numerous lobed. Sepals are 3–5, free or connate, valvate. Petals are five, free, rotating, adnate to staminal column at base. Stamens are numerous, filaments connate into tube, known as adelphous. Anthers are 1-celled. Pollen grains are large and spiny. Analysis of diversity, distribution and endemism of the family Rubiaceae for southern Assam has been made. The analyses are based on field observations in the three districts, viz., Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj, as well as data from existing collections and literature. The present study records 90 taxa recorded from southern Assam, four of which are endemic. Chassaliacurviflora (Wall.)Thwaites var. ellipsoides Hook. f. and MussaendakeenaniiHook.f. are rediscovered after a gap of 140 years. MussaendacorymbosaRoxb.is reported for the first time from northeastern India, while Chassaliastaintonii (H.Hara) Deb and Mondal is reported as a new record for Assam.