Researchers Soumya Murugan from Thiruvananthapuram and Maya C. Nair, head of the department of Botany, Government Victoria College, Palakkad, have spotted the new plant species with botanical name Sonerila nairii , which comes under the family of Melasto mataceae .
The discovery from biodiversity rich Nelliampathy has been published in the latest issue of Phytotaxa, an international journal on taxonomy. Interestingly, the researchers have named the plant asSonerila nairii as a tribute to eminent botanist P.K.K. Nair, who founded Thiruvananthapuram-based Environmental Resources Research Centre. He had contributed immensely to the field of Palynology, the study of plant pollen, spores and certain microscopic plankton organisms in both living and fossil form.
The plant with pink coloured flowers is a highly endangered species.
The plant was was seen growing around 1,200 metres above sea level.
Each plant carries just two flowers.
The plant grows in soil found in the gaps of rocks.
“The plant species is enlisted in the critically endangered category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). We spotted it while working on the flora of Kollengode range forests in Palakkad district,” said Ms. Murugan. “The plant species is lithophytic and flowers during the October-November months in climatic regions with altitudes ranging above 1,200 metres above sea level. Nelliampathy deserves more studies on taxonomy,” said Ms. Nair.


Source : The Hindu