Abstract
An overlooked but spectacular species of Huperzia from higher altitude in North-East India and North Myanmar is distinguished by its very long, linear, strongly downward-deflexed, grey leaves, which then angle upwards in their apical halves. It is named here as Huperzia kingdonwardiana Fraser-Jenk., after one of its collectors, the remarkable British botanist and plantsman, Frank Kingdon Ward. It was firstbrought to notice by Fraser-Jenkins (2008) during the ongoing preparation of a checklist of pteridophytes of Arunachal Pradesh State, and was then identified by the present author as H. quasipolytrichoides (Hayata) Ching, in error, influenced by the poor illustration given for that species by Nessel (1939). Subsequently it was reidentified by the present author at BM under the present name in Jan. 2012, which he had first coined for it in 2002 on recognising it as a species previously unknown in India. It differs from H. quasipolytrichoides from Taiwan and East China in itsobviously longer, narrower leaves that arch upwards more strongly above the deflexed basal part of the leaf, and in its wider branches. A further previously unrecognised species from the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya State, North-East India, is described as H. meghalaica Fraser-Jenk., and is similar to a longer-leaved H. pulcherrima (Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.) Pich.-Serm.
Keywords
Huperzia kingdonwardiana, Huperzia meghalaica, lycopods, N.E. India