Litsea udayanii (Lauraceae): A new species from the southern Western Ghats, India

Litsea udayanii, a new species of Lauraceae from the Anamalai phytogeographical zone of southern Western Ghats is described and illustrated here. The new species resembles L. cubeba in its clustered inflorescence and L. beddomei in fruits.  Litsea udayanii differs from L. cubeba by its coriaceous leaves, 12 staminodes in the female flowers, ellipsoid fruits, and an enlarged and cup-shaped perianth tube; it differs from L. beddomei by its elliptic-oblong leaves with cuneate to rounded base and abaxially prominent tertiary veins, and by its clustered inflorescence. In contrast, L. cubeba is characterized by chartaceous leaves, 8–9 staminodes in the female flowers, subglobose fruits, and a small and flattened perianth tube and L. beddomei is distinguished by linear-oblong leaves with acute to attenuate base and abaxially inconspicuous tertiary veins, and by inflorescences arranged on 1–5 cm long brachyblasts.