NEW PLANT SPECIES FOUND

NEW PLANT SPECIES FOUND

Memecylon clarkeanum , an endemic and threatened shrubby plant species narrowly distributed in Sri Lanka and hitherto unknown to Indian flora, has been found in the evergreen forests of Wayanad, and from the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad.A team of scientists from the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), and the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, including A.R. Sivu, M.K. Ratheesh Narayanan, N.S. Pradeep, E.S. Santhosh, and K.A. Sujana, found this plant during a recent floristic exploration in the evergreen forests of Banasuramala and Kunchome in Wayanad district; Aruvanpara of the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad; and Thusharagiri area and Thamarassery Ghat of Kozhikode.It was discovered and described by Cogniaux Célestin Alfred, a British scientist, in 1891 from Sri Lanka, Dr. Narayanan said. “It is a large shrub of Melastomataceae family with attractive bluish white flowers and yellowish fruit. Usually the plant flowers during November-March,” he said.

This species is assessed by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre as Threatened (Vulnerable) in the Inter National Union for Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) Red Data Book.The findings are accepted for publication in Taiwania — an international journal of Life Science.Earlier, the scientists of MSSRF had discovered as many as 10 new species of plants from different parts of Wayanad district.

                                  Prof. John Kurakar