A Novel Species Of Ischaemum (Poaceae, Andropogoneae) From The Northern Western Ghats, India, Based On Morphological And Molecular Data

Ischaemum amboliense (Poaceae, Andropogoneae), a new species of Muraina grass, is described and illustrated here. The new species is closely allied to I. travancorense but differs from it in having annual habit and erect posture, culm with sparsely hairy nodes, well-exerted racemes, lower glumes of sessile spikelets with 3-4 side nodules without ridges, upper glume of sessile spikelets with bicuspidate apex and margins with a membranous wing on one side of apical region and lower lemma of sessile spikelets winged on both sides towards the apex. A strict consensus tree obtained from the Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses of trnLC-trnLD and ETS datasets supported the novelty of the species. Here, we provide a detailed morphological description, molecular phylogenetic analysis, distribution map, and photo-plates of the novel and allied species.