Rare lipstick plant rediscovered after 100 years in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw
The plant (Eschinanthus monetaria dunn) was first identified by British botanist Stephen Troit Dunn in 1912, based on plant samples collected from Arunachal Pradesh by another English botanist, Isaac Henry Burkill.
Botanical Survey of India (BSI) researchers have discovered a rare plant from the remote Anju district of Arunachal Pradesh, more than a century later, sometimes called the ‘Indian Lipstick Plant’.
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The plant (Eschinanthus monetaria dunn) was first identified by British botanist Stephen Troit Dunn in 1912, based on plant samples collected from Arunachal Pradesh by another English botanist, Isaac Henry Burkill. Read more-Rare Achievement: 10-year-old Mumbai girl climbs Mount Everest base camp at 5,364 meters
“Due to the presence of tubular red corolla, some species belonging to the genus Eschinanthus are called lipstick plants,” said BSI scientist Krishna Chowlu in an article of discovery published in the journal Current Science.
While researching flowers in Arunachal Pradesh, Choulu collected some specimens of Eschinthas from Huliang and Chipru in Anja district in December 2021.
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A review of the relevant documents, a critical study of the fresh specimens, confirmed that the specimens were Eschinthas monetaria, which had never been found in India since Burkeel in 1912.
According to Gopal Krishna’s co-author, the name Aeschinanthus is derived from the Greek aishin or aishin, meaning shame or embarrassment, and anthos, meaning flower.
Eschinanthus monetaria dun is morphologically unique and distinctive among all Eschinanthus species known from India, its fleshy axial leaves have a green upper surface and a purple-green lower surface. The specific title ‘Monitoria’ means ‘like mint’, which means the presence of its leaves.
This plant grows in moist and evergreen forests at an altitude of 543 to 1134 m. Flowering and fruiting season is from October to January.
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The species has been classified as ‘endangered’ following the guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the condition of the natural world and the necessary arrangements for its conservation.
Landslides often occur in Anju district of Arunachal Pradesh. Development activities such as road widening, school construction, construction of new settlements and markets and zoom farming are major threats to this species in Arunachal Pradesh.
Many different species have been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh which speaks to the rich biodiversity of the state, but experts say more needs to be discovered according to Choulu.
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Rare lipstick plant rediscovered after 100 years in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
