Cryptocoryne cognata Schott and Rotala ritchiei (C.B. Clarke)
Koehne – the critically endangered aquatic herbs on verge of extinction
During assessment of endemic and
threatened angiosperm taxa of Western
Ghats in Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra
from 2007 to 2012, extensive surveys
were made in the entire regions during
which, we established the extant, but
scanty populations of two critically endangered
aquatic herbs Cryptocoryne
cognata Schott and Rotala ritchiei (C.B.
Clarke) Koehne, listed in Red Data
Book1–4, in Maharashtra.
Strictly endemic to Sindhudurg district,
Konkan region of Maharashtra, the
type locality and first described5 in 1857,
the species C. cognata was re-collected
after about one and half decade, in 1990
and 1997 from two other localities,
Ajgaon and Vaibhawadi in Sindhudurg
district, although represented by only
few individuals each4,6. This anchored
aquatic, annual herb inhabits the sides of
lakes and running waters (with roots
anchored under water). Its habitat is
extremely restricted and specifically confined
to the widened ends of narrow
flowing streams arising from the hills.
The bulbous roots with dense vermiform
fibres, leaves 12–25 × 3–6 cm, oblonglanceolate
with undulating margins and
12–18 cm long dark purplish spathes,
sprawling in the direction of water current
when submerged, or spreading on
ground when on edges, are the diagnosticthreats to which these are currently exposed.
Unless measures are not adopted
immediately for conservation of their
wild gene pool, the species would
become extinct. The finding also open
vistas for studies on the reproductive biology
and pollination ecology of these
species to establish causes of rarity. But
under the present scenario, the ever
increasing anthropogenic pressures are
extremely detrimental to survival of
these populations and calls for immediate
conservation in wild as our experiments
have also revealed that ex-situ conservation
of these species is not successful.