Extended Distribution of the Vulnerable Cooper’s Stone Flower Corallodiscus cooperi (Gesneriaceae) in India

During our floristic and ecological study in Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh under the project titled ‘Biodiversity Assessment through Long-term Monitoring Plots in Indian Himalayan Landscape’, we collected an interesting species belonging to Corallodiscus.  Upon critical analysis and scrutiny of authentic literature (Ridley 1905; Craib 1919a,b; Wang et al. 1998; Hilliard 2001; Kamble et al. 2006; Giri et al. 2008; Rout et al. 2008; Möller et al. 2017) and study of herbarium material form from Botanical Survey of India, Arunachal Pradesh Regional Centre, Itanagar (ARUN), Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong (ASSAM), Central National Herbarium, Howrah (CAL), and Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (E), the identity of the species was confirmed as Corallodiscus cooperi (Craib) B.L. Burtt., hitherto not reported from India.  According to IUCN (2017) criteria, the species is listed under the Vulnerable category and was previously only reported from Bhutan.  Therefore, the collection of this species from Zemithang establishes its extended distribution and occurrence in India.  A detailed description of this newly recorded species along with field images, locality map (Fig. 1), and notes are provided herewith to facilitate its easy identification.