Bioscience Discovery, 13(4):131-135, October - 2022 © RUT Printer and Publisher Print & Online available on https://jbsd.in ISSN: 2229-3469 (Print); ISSN: 2231-024X (Online) Research Article Chionanthus (Oleaceae): A New Generic Record for Telangana State, India Gollamandala Ravi1, Dasari Veeranjaneyulu3 and Paradesi Anjaneyulu3 *1Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh– 515731, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-0967 2 ENVIS Division, EPTRI, Hyderabad, Telangana–500032, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2281-1125 3 Forest Research Centre for Coastal Ecosystem, Beach Road, Yoga Village, Andhra University, Post 530003, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7570-8036 *Gollamandala Ravi, Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh–515731, India. Email: gollamandala.ravi2@gmail.com Article Info Received: 07-06-2022, Revised: 18-09-2022, Accepted: 22-09-2022 Keywords: Bhadradri Kothagudem, Chionanthus, Kondapur forest range, New record, Oleaceae. Abstract Chionanthus ramiflorus (Oleaceae) is reported here as a new generic record for the state of Telangana (India). Nomenclatural citation, detailed description and phenological data along with distribution map, pictorial data and herbarium voucher numbers have been provided here to facilitate easy identification and future references. INTRODUCTION The genus Chionanthus L. (Oleaceae) is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It is represented by 80 species (Mabberley, 2008). The genus Chionanthus L. is represented by 140 accepted species and its native range is Central & E. U.S.A. to Tropical & Subtropical America, Tropical & Subtropical Asia to Japan and W. Pacific (POWO, 2022). Stearn, (1976) merged the genus Linociera Swartz into Chionanthus L. based on the survey of morphological and palynological characters, therefore the number of the species increased considerably. Later (Chang et al., 1996) in Flora of China accepted the reduction of Linociera Swartz with Chionanthus L. Although the former is deciduous and found in temperate Asia and North America and the later are evergreen and pantropical in distribution. In India, the genus Chionanthus L. is represented by 9 taxa (07 https://biosciencediscovery.com species, 02 subspecies). i.e., C. albidiflorus, C. mala -elengi, C. subsp. mala elengi, C. subsp. linocieroid es, C. subsp. terniflorus, C. montanus C. ramiflorus, C.parkinsonii, C. sumatranus and C.zeylanicus. of which Chionanthus mala-elengi subsp. mala-elengi is endemic to India (Srivastava, 2020). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study area: Bhadradri Kothagudem is the easternmost district of the Telangana state and situated between 18° 13' and 17° 13' of Northern Latitude and 80 12' and 81° 18' of the Eastern Longitude and spread over an area of 7,483 Sq.kms. The district is bounded on the north and northeast by Bijapur and Sukuma districts of Chhattisgarh state, on east-by-East Godavari district, on south and south-east by Khammam district and West Godavari district, on the west by Mahabubabad district and on the north-west by Jayashankar Bhupalapally district. 131 ISSN: 2231-024X (Online) Gollamandala Ravi et al., The forest is of Moist deciduous and tropical dry deciduous type, occupying an area of 4334.83 Sq.km, i.e., 7089.89 Sq.km of the geographical area. (TSFD 2021). Due to the obvious presence of different types of habitats such as hilly areas, open and dense forests, and its adjacency to the Maredumilli forests of Andhra Pradesh, the Kondapur reserve forest is endowed with rich florist diversity. As a result, number of plant species were newly recorded to the state Flora in the recent years from Bhadradri Kothagudem district (R avi et.al, 2020, Ravi et.al 2021and Ravi et al.202). Fig.1 Map showing location of Chionanthus ramiflorus in Bhadradri Kothagudem district METHODOLOGY The intensive and extensive floristic exploration trips were carried out for the past 2 years in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana state. Specimens of the newly recorded species were collected from the Pagideru beat, Kondaigudem section, Manuguru range and division of the district. After a critical study, the specimens have been identified as Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb. based on the current floras (Flora of Presidency of Madras, Flora of Central and North Tamil Nadu and Flora of Andhra Pradesh). The scrutiny of the literature revealed that the genus Chionanthus L. https://jbsd.in has not been listed so far in the Flora of Telangana Pullaiah (2015) Reddy & Reddy (2016) and the recent Floral checklist by Reddy (2018). Therefore, the genus Chionanthus L. is reported here as a new generic record to the Flora of Telangana state. Detailed descriptions with photographs and occurrence map were provided to facilitate easy identification. The voucher herbarium sheets were prepared by standard herbarium methods (Jain and Rao 1977), and the voucher specimens were deposited at the Kakatiya University, Warangal (KUW), Telangana. 132 ISSN: 2229-3469 (Print) Bioscience Discovery, 13(4):131-135, October - 2022 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Taxonomic treatment: Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb. Fl. ind. 1: 106. 1820; COL & WCSP 2018. Linociera ramiflora (Roxb.) Wall. ex G. Don, Gen. hist. 4: 52. 1837; Matthew, FTNC t. 420. 1982, 3: 889. 1983; nom. mud. L. intermedia Wight, IPIO t. 1245. 1848; Hook.f. FBI 3: 609. 1882; Gamble, FPM 2: 794 (558). 1923; Matthew, FTNC 1: 256. 1981. C. intermedia (Wight) Beddome, Fl. sylv. S. India t. 239. 1872. var. ramiflorus Matthew, Ill. FPH t. 496. 1996. Description: Large evergreen tree, up to 20 m high; bark, light greyish-brown, minutely warty tubercled, blaze creamy-yellow; branchlets glabrous; Leaves simple, elliptic-oblong, opposite, estipulate, petiole 3 cm long, slender, glabrous, lamina 5-20 × 2.5-6 cm, elliptic to obovate, base cuneate to attenuate, apex acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, chartaceous, lateral nerves 8-14 pairs, pinnate, prominent, glabrous, intercostae reticulate; Flowers small, white, 4-merous in axillary or terminal panicles, longer than 5 cm, usually longer than the leaves, pedicel 1 cm long; calyx lobes 4, acute, glabrous; corolla 3 mm long, lobes 4, connate in pairs, narrowly oblong; stamens 2, attached at the base of corolla lobes; filaments short; anthers dehiscing on margin; ovary 2-celled, superior, glabrous, ovules 2 in each cell, pendulous from the apex; style short. Drupe ellipsoid, oblong, 1.5-2 cm long, dark purple when mature, glabrous; seed solitary. Habitat and Ecology: Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb is collected from the Pagideru beat, Kondaigudem section, Manuguru range and division, Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana state, India. Here, only one well established tree species was obs erved, and it was growing rare along small water str eams in sandy soils of dry deciduous forest, at an alt itude of about 120 m, in association with Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel., Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Finet & Gagnep., Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn., and Anodendron parviflorum (Roxb.) I.M.Turner. Phenology: February-April Distribution: Global distribution Andaman Is., Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China SouthCentral, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Queensland, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, https://biosciencediscovery.com Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam Local distribution: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana state (Present report) Specimens examined: India, Telangana state: Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Pagideru beat, Kondaigudem Section, Manuguru Range and Division, 17.914864, 80.677088, 120 m Elevation, June 06, 2022, G. Ravi 728 (KUW). Notes: Chionanthus ramiflorus is unique from the other species with the following characters, I.e., Leaves thin, up to 20 x 6.0 cm, secondary nerves 814 pairs, conspicuous; Panicles up to10 cm long; Petals 3.0 mm; Drupe oblong, up to 2.0 cm. Based on these characters we have been identified in vegetative and reproductive stages. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Prabhat Kumar Das, (Research Scholar, Taxonomy and Conservation Division Regional Plant Resource Centre Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India) and K. Ranjith Kumar for assisting in field trips. Thanks, are also extended to Telangana State Forest Department of Bhadradri Kothagudem District for their endless support. REFERENCES: Hong Quang B, Choudhary R K, Chinh VT, Bach TT, Phuong Anh TT and Lee J. 2014. Two new combinations in the genus Chion anthus L. (OLEACEAE): Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon, 21(2): 197-198. Chang MC, Qui LQ, Wei Z & Green PS. Oleaceae. In: Wu, Z. 1996. Science Press, Beijing, China and Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri, USA; pp. 272-319. Gamble J S. 1915-1936. Flora of Presidency of Madras. vols. I-III. Adlard & Son, London. (repr. ed., 2011). Jain SK & RR Rao. 1977. A Handbook of Field and Herbarium Methods. Today and Tomorrow Printers and Publishers, New Delhi.1- 157. John Britto S. 2019. The Flora of Central and North Tamil Nadu, Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi. pp, 2041. Mabberley DJ. 2008. Mabberley’s Plant-book: a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Cambridge University Press, England;1004. Plants of the world online (POWO), 2022, https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.or g:names:608794-1# 133 ISSN: 2231-024X (Online) Gollamandala Ravi et al., Fig.2. Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb. A. Habitat, B. Stem, C. Leaf upper and lower surfaces, D. Flowering branches, E. Flower close-up, F. Fruits. https://jbsd.in 134 ISSN: 2229-3469 (Print) Bioscience Discovery, 13(4):131-135, October - 2022 Pullaiah T. 1997. Flora of Andhra Pradesh, vol-2, Scientific Publishers, New Pali Road, Jodhpur, India. p.563. Pullaiah T. 2015. Flora of Telangana, the 29th State of India. Regency publications. 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Mao (eds.), Flowering Pants of India: An Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 2: 73‒75. The Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata. Stearn WT. 1976. Union of Chionanthus and Linociera (Oleaceae). Ann. Miss. Bot. Gard. 63(2):355-357. Telangana State Forest Department (TSFD, 2021), h ttp://forests.telangana.gov.in/Docs/31_Density.pdf. Cite this article Gollamandala Ravi, Dasari Veeranjaneyulu and Paradesi Anjaneyulu, 2022. Chionanthus (Oleaceae): A New Generic Record for Telangana State, India. Bioscience Discovery, 13(4):131-135. https://biosciencediscovery.com 135 ISSN: 2231-024X (Online)