Abstract
The present study revealed the identity and distribution of Cynometra iripa and C. ramiflora in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Of these, C. iripa is often classified as true mangrove species, whereas C. ramiflora is a mangrove associate. Apex of leaflets, length of inflorescences, length of pedicels, apex of anthers and position of fruit beak are key distinguishing characters between C. iripa and C. ramiflora. In the present study both the species were recorded from the Andaman Islands, but not from the Nicobar Islands. Identification key and images of C. iripa and C. ramiflora and notes on nomenclatural ambiguity of these two species in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are provided in this paper.
Highlights
The genus Cynometra L. (Fabaceae) consists of about 85 species distributed in the tropical regions (Mabberley 2008)
The present study revealed the identity and distribution of Cynometra iripa and C. ramiflora in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
Of the 51 sites surveyed, C. iripa was recorded at 29 sites in the Andaman Islands, whereas few individuals of C. ramiflora were recorded from Chidiyatapu, South Andaman (Fig. 1)
Summary
The genus Cynometra L. (Fabaceae) consists of about 85 species distributed in the tropical regions (Mabberley 2008). In India, Cynometra is represented by 7 species: C. beddomei Prain, C. bourdillonii Gamble, C. iripa Kostel., C. malaccensis Meeuwen, C. ramiflora L., C. travancorica Bedd., and C. cauliflora L. 63) was described as Cynometra ramiflora by Linnaeus (1753), which is characterized by unijugate leaves. 31) was described as Cynometra iripa by Kosteletzky (1835), which is characterized by bijugate leaves. Most of the subsequent botanists described Cynometra iripa as varietal form of C. ramiflora. Bijuga (bijugate form), based on number of leaflets. Prain (1897) described 2 subspecies of C. ramiflora, subsp.
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