Draft:Dzukou lily
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| Dzükou lily | |
|---|---|
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| Dzükou lily in Dzükou Valley on the Nagaland–Manipur border | |
Scientific classification  (disputed) | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Liliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Lilioideae |
| Genus: | Lilium |
| Species: | L. mackliniae |
| Binomial name | |
| Lilium mackliniae Sealy | |
The Dzükou lily is a bulbous perennial geophyte in the family Liliaceae, described from specimens collected in Dzüko Valley on the Nagaland–Manipur border of northeastern India at elevations of approximately 2,438–2,452 m above sea level.[2][3] This Dzukou Valley population of the Lilium mackliniae variant, is not its own distinct taxon. The Dzukou plants share the species' diagnostic morphology, including the pendant six-tepal bell and the leaf and bulb architecture of the type material from Shirui, and differ only in carrying a heavier load of anthocyanin pigments in the perianth, which produces the deeper rose-pink flush that distinguishes them from the paler, more white-suffused Shirui population.[4]
The name was proposed by Hijam Bikramjit Singh, a research assistant in the Life Sciences Department of Manipur University, who first encountered the plant in the summer of 1991 during a trek to the valley with a Manipur Cultural Integration Conference team. The specific epithet chitrangadae honours his mother, Chitrangada.[2] The original account is claimed to have appeared in the News Letter of the Manipur Association for Science and Society (1991), a periodical whose copy Mao & Gogoi (2013) were unable to locate in any library or institutional archive, raising questions about the works validity under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.[2] It appears like the work was not published, and it was just sensationalised by Manipuri newspapers.[2]
Taxonomy and description
[edit]Upon examining the white-flowered Dzükou Valley specimens to which Bikramjit's name was applied, Mao & Gogoi (2013) concluded that they represent an albino colour variant of Lilium mackliniae. Sealy, formally described from the Shirui Hills of Ukhrul district, Manipur, in the Kew Bulletin, rather than a distinct taxon. Typical pink-flowered populations of L. mackliniae constitute the dominant lily in the valley.[2][5] The accepted species, L. mackliniae, is a geophyte with an ovoid bulb measuring 2–2.5 × 2–2.5 cm and bearing fleshy, elliptic scales. The stem is 25–33 cm tall, terete at the base and angular above, with irregularly spiral, sessile, elliptic, three-nerved leaves (2.3–2.7 × 0.7–0.8 cm) and pendent, broadly campanulate flowers.[2]
Ecology and conservation
[edit]The Dzükou Valley population grows in open subalpine grassland and meadows alongside dwarf bamboo (Sinarundinaria rolloana), various alpine herbs, and orchids. These sites experience extreme cold and heavy frost from November to March.[2] Lilium mackliniae is assessed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The species is threatened by recurrent large-scale anthropogenic forest fires that promote post-fire expansion of Sinarundinaria bamboo and suppress lily regeneration, as well as by unregulated tourism and horticultural collection.[1][6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Zimik, N.; Meetei, W.A. (2026). "A comprehensive review on conservation efforts of Shirui lily (Lilium mackliniae Sealy) of Manipur, India". Discover Plants. 3: 98. doi:10.1007/s44372-026-00537-9.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mao, A.A.; Gogoi, R. (2013). "Lilium mackliniae Sealy, an endemic lily of North East India, its distribution and status in the wild". Indian Forester. 139 (2): 171–173.
- ↑ "Lilium chitrangadae". Lilium Division IX. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
- ↑ "Rare Dzükuo Lily's decline sparks concerns for its future survival". MorungExpress. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ Sealy, J.R. (1949). "A new species of Lilium from Manipur". Kew Bulletin.
- ↑ Borah, d.J. (22 February 2021). "The rolling ashes from Dzukou hills write back". Mongabay India. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Dzüko Valley at Wikimedia Commons
