Allmania Multiflora

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

A rather frail-looking plant spotted on the granite hillocks of Palakkad has been identified as a new species of the genus Allmania. 

Named Allmania multiflora, the species is quite special from both the botanical and conservation points of view.

Characteristics

• Found at heights ranging between 1,000 to 1,250 metres, Allmania multiflora is an annual herb, erect, with branches arising from the base. 
• The stem is red to violet at the base and green above. 
• Shorter tepals and wider gynoecium (parts of the flower), shorter bracts and in the diameter of the seeds are among the characteristics that distinguishes it from Allmania nodiflora.
• Flowering and fruiting occurs from May to September.

• An annual herb that grows to a height of about 60 cm, Allmania multiflora is only the second species of this genus identified so far anywhere. 
• The discovery has come 188 years after the genus and the first species were described by botanists.
• Field surveys, genetic analysis, and molecular and morphometric investigations demonstrated it as distinct from Allmania nodiflora, which so far had been accepted as the lone Allmania species.
• The first species, Allmania nodiflora, was originally published under the genus Celosia as Celosia nodiflora in 1753. 
• Specimens found in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) were first described as Allmania nodiflora in 1834.
• Its new-found cousin, Allmania multiflora, is currently known only from a few locations. 
• It is a Critically Endangered,as per the IUCN Red List criteria.
• The plant was discovered during ongoing studies on Amaranthaceae, the plant family to which the genus Allmania belongs.