Leucas sahyadriensis - Sahyadri Leucas

Sahyadri Leucas is a newly discovered (2019) perennial herb, with basal stem and root stock thick, up to 1 m high; branches straggling up to 1.5 m long, four-edged, not grooved, dense velvet-hairy with retrorse hairs, tender branches short woolly; internodes 6-11 cm long. Leaves are opposite, arranged in mutually perpendicular pairs, stalked, thin, broadly ovate sometime nearly round, 3-6 x 3-5 mm, usually as broad as long, base flat to somewhat heart-shaped sometime rounded to wedge-shaped, margin rounded toothed or toothed with 6-13 teeth, tip blunt to pointed, dense velvet-hairy below, less velvet-hairy above, lateral veins 4-5; leaf-stalk 1.5-2.5 cm long, dense velvet-hairy. Flowers are borne in leaf-axils, in clusters, each 3-7 flowered, loosely arranged. Flowers are white, 1.6-1.7 cm long; tube about 8 mm long, included in the sepal-tube, tube widening up; lower lip of flower about 9 mm long, middle lobe about 7 mm broad, free end notched; lateral lobes about 2.5 mm broad, front end overlap with the hind portion of middle lobe; upper lip 6 mm long, base slightly bulged. Stamens with hairy filaments; anthers bright red colored, about 8 x about 0.5 mm. Style is about 1.5 cm long, bent; stigma bifid. Bracteoles are minute, 2-3 mm long, linear. Flowers have stalks 2-3.5 mm long. Sepal-cup widely funnel shaped; tube 1.0-1.4 cm long, basal half narrow, above suddenly bulged from middle then gradually widening and spreading out at mouth, tube longitudinally ribbed along nerves, outside short hairy, hairs thin, deflexed, mouth 6-8 cm wide; teeth 10, equal in size, 2-3 mm long, base 1.8-2 mm broad, broadly triangular to triangular, tip spiny. Sahyadri Leucas is found in Southern India.