ABSTRACT Cremanthodium Benth. is a Sino‐Himalayan endemic genus predominantly distributed in high‐altitude region. Globally, the genus is represented by 82 species, of which 20 are found in India. During a botanical exploration of Arunachal Pradesh, India, an interesting taxon of Cremanthodium was collected. At first, the specimens appeared to be C. thomsonii or C. oblanciligulatum , however, a critical examination of live specimens, type material and relevant literature the identity of the collected sample was confirmed as C. trilobum . This is a threatened species of the Himalayan region previously known only from China; thus, this collection from Arunachal Pradesh represents a new distributional record for India. C. trilobum is closely related to C. oblanciligulatum and C. thomsonii , but can be easily distinguished from its distal brown puberulent stem and abaxially glabrous, purplish, reticulated leaf blade. Additionally, the morphological similarity among C. thomsonii and allied species is discussed based on observations from live collection, type specimens, and relevant literature. A detailed description of C. trilobum is provided along with the notes and a comparative analysis supported by illustrations of related species to eliminate confusion among allied species.
Kumar et al. (Mon,) studied this question.