FIGURE 2 in Ischaemum dioecum (Poaceae: Andropogoneae): the most strangest new species from Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India

FIGURE 2. Illustration of Ischaemum dioecum (The male plant and its parts have been redrawn from the field note book of Shahid Nawaz). A–C & H–S: Male plant & its parts. D–G: Female plant and its parts. A. Male plant habit. B. Magnified peduncle. C. Sessile spikelet opened-up. D. Female plant habit. E1. Reduced bi-nate spiciform-raceme (sheath and callus hairs were removed to expose the raceme). E2. Pistil from the mature spikelet. F. Lower glume (outer view). G. Lower glume (lateral view). H. Sessile spikelet. I. Lower glume (outer view). J. Lower glume (inner view). K. Lower glume (lateral view). L. Upper glume (inner view). M. Upper glume (lateral view). N. Lemma. O. Palea. P. Stamens. Q. Lodicules. R. Rhachis internode and pedicel. S. Pedicelled spikelet. (Illustrated by: Shahid Nawaz) Note: Male plants, as compared to their female counterparts, were quite fewer and extremely delicate. Thus, the first author dissected and studied a couple of fresh specimens on the field under a dissecting microscope and illustrated the floral parts in his field notebook. Later, after facing an irreversible loss of the intended type specimens of the male plant of Ischaemum dioecum with other important grass specimens in the field, his field note book was reconsidered to redraw and reproduce the same illustration for this paper. A re-visit to the type locality at the end of October 2021, when monsoon had subsided, revealed that the previously associated other grasses had now established a gregarious community possessing a taller stature, and the very effort to examine their roots and bases was futile. Sooner, the thin population of I. dioecum had completely disappeared. In view of the very restricted range of this species, it perhaps seems that, it has not been very successful in colonization and may be very recent in origin. It is also reflected through its acquisition of such a unique microclimatic condition to live that in absence of which the species might become extinct.