Three research scholars discover new plant species in Western Ghats
Three research scholars, one from the United States among them, have discovered a new plant in Ponmudi hills in Kerala which is part of the Western Ghats, one of the eight hotspots of biological diversity in the world.
They named the plant after Dr N Mohanan (Symplocos Mohananii), former principal scientist and now scientific adviser of M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Wayanad, north Kerala. They said the tree was named after the scientist for his outstanding contribution spanning 37 years in the field of taxonomy (classification of plants) and conservation of biodiversity. He discovered more than 33 new species from the Western Ghats and also six species were re-discovered many years later (some of them were written off as extinct).
Three researchers– Stephan J, Akhil R, both from the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research institute (JNTBGRI) in Palode (Thiruvananthapuram) and Peter W Fritsch (curator and scientist) from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, USA formed part of the team. They have been doing research on ‘Symplocos Mohananii’ for more than four years.
“The tree is very endemic in nature and we could spot only five of them during our research. Though it looks like other plants of the genus Symplocos, critical analysis of micro and macro characters of it later revealed the Symplocos Mohananii is a different species,” said one of the scholars R Akhil. The plant was spotted from a hill which was about 3000 feet above sea level and they spent days together in forests, said Fritsch. He said the plant carries white coloured flowers and they could not record opening of flowers so far. White- coloured flowers usually open at night.
“Plants of this family are commonly known as sweet leaf plants locally and the bark of a few species were used to treat skin diseases by tribals and also for dye-making. ‘Symplocos Mohananii has also got some medicinal properties but detailed study is needed,” said another team member J Stephen. Since the number of plant is limited they said their next task is to find a large collection in deep forests.
Rich in endemic flora and fauna, the Western Ghats, stretching from Gujarat to Kerala, also a UNESCO heritage site which plays an important role in climatic condition of the country, still remains a mystery for scientists. They periodically discover new plants, frogs, reptiles and other species there.
Following grave concerns over the depletion of its green cover due to human interference, the Union government had set up an expert panel under eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil. In 2011 he had submitted his report. When all six states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) coming under the shadow of the Ghats opposed the Gadgil Panel recommendations, a working group was constituted under Dr Kasturirangan, former ISRO chief. A watered down version was done, it was also opposed. Now both expert reports are gathering dust in government cupboards.
