Researchers discover new plant variety in Arunachal Pradesh
They also record the presence of a plant that is considered endemic to China.
Researchers from Kerala have identified a new plant variety belonging to the coffee family from Arunachal Pradesh and registered the presence of plants in the northeastern state, which is endemic to China.
M. Sabu, CSIR-emeritus scientist and V.S. Haris, a research fellow at the Malabar Botanical Garden and the Institute of Plant Sciences in Kozhikode, has published an international journal, Adansonia, at the French Museum of Natural History in Paris.
from the coffee family
The new variety was spotted in the Shi-Yomi district and was named Ophiorhiza medogensis var. shiyomiense after the area where it is endemic. Pro. Sabu said a close relative of Ophiorhiza medogensis, discovered in the Dibang Valley, is being registered for the first time in India. They belong to the coffee family, Rubiaceae.
Both plants were collected from the interior of Arunachal Pradesh during the botanical survey. He said that although there are many similarities, they differ greatly in the characteristics and color of the flowers.
Ophiorrhiza medogensis var. Xiomiens is a small plant that grows to a height of 20-50 cm. It has a branched stem with a wooden base and light yellow flowers with a green tinge. The plant was found in moist, sloping places at an altitude of 1100 to 1200 m.
From Tibet to the present day
Pro. Sabu and Dr. Haris recorded the presence of Ophiorhiza medogensis, a Himalayan species known only from Medoga in Tibet and first described by Lee in 1980. Arunachal Pradesh was found to grow at an altitude of 1100. Not far from Mayotte, up to 1700 m in Dibang valley area. Ophiorrhiza medogensis grows to a height of about 20-60 cm and has a branched stem. The flowers are white or almost white and light pink at the base of the tubes.
“The current collection from Myodia of Arunachal Pradesh, India has extended this distribution of the taxon to the Indian flora,” Adansonia said in an article.
Researchers discover new plant variety in Arunachal Pradesh
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