ELAEOCARPUS PULNEYENSIS, A NEW SPECIES OF ELAEOCARPUS (ELAEOCARPACEAE) FROM PENINSULAR INDIA, BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE

Charuta Gole; Navendu Page; Milind Sardesai

doi:10.24823/ejb.2026.2092

ELAEOCARPUS PULNEYENSIS, A NEW SPECIES OF ELAEOCARPUS (ELAEOCARPACEAE) FROM PENINSULAR INDIA, BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE

Authors

C. N. Gole Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1456-6473
N. V. Page Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, Mumbai https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9413-7571
M. M. Sardesai Savitribai Phule Pune University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7802-3988

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24823/ejb.2026.2092

Keywords:

Endemic, Kodaikanal, Oxalidales, Pulney Hills, Rudraksha

Abstract

A new species of Elaeocarpus is described from the Kodaikanal region of Pulney Hills, India; it is morphologically allied to E. variabilis in having anther tips without setae or tuft of hairs and 3-locular pyrenes. It differs from the latter in having ovate, light-green sepals, and ellipsoid fruits enclosing ellipsoid pyrenes. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS and trnL–F regions revealed that Elaeocarpus pulneyensis is distinct from E. variabilis and support the novelty of the taxon.