Note on the occurrence of Periploca hydaspidis Falc. (Asclepidiaceae) from Jammu & Kashmir, India

Periploca hydaspidis Falc., known across India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, had its last recorded collection in India by T.A. Rao in 1958. After a hiatus of seven decades, the species was rediscovered in 2023 in the Upper Chenab Valley of Doda District, Jammu. A comprehensive description, accompanied by coloured photographs, has been provided for the first time to aid its identification. P. hydaspidis, a member of the Asclepidiaceae family, has been overlooked by botanists for an extended period of time. Only a few specimens of the species are housed in the selected herbaria worldwide. In India, specimens collected by Falconer are preserved at the Central National Herbarium in Kolkata, however, our recent collections have been deposited at two herbaria i.e. FRI, Dehradun and Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Jammu.