VS Achuthanandan and Lady Gaga share a common interest? Both of them are named after plants. In honor of his efforts in the conservation of the Western Ghats, a new succulent herb from Thiruvananthapuram’s Kallar forest area has been named Impatiens achudanandanii. It grows 15–20 cm tall, has white flowers with yellow spots and grows in highlands above 1200 meters.
The team has also identified two more Impatiens species, dubbed Ishailajae and I danii. These flowers grow 10-15 cm tall and have a white-purpleish color. A paper published last week in PhytoKeys declared that the I.shailajae gene is named for Mrs. K.K. Shailaja, former Health Minister of Kerala,to honor her efforts to tackle various epidemic and pandemic situations in Kerala through scientific temper.
Although a few researchers have raised concerns about naming plant species after politicians, the director of the Botanical Survey of India said that as long as the name is given following the International Code of Nomenclature, it is valid. Several species in India were named after British queens and kings or even after high-ranking officials during British rule. A plant named after a politician has no harm,’ said Dr. A A Mao.
I.danii grows 10-20 cm tall in Idukki, Munnar, and bears white flowers with a yellow blotch on the throat. The garden was named in honor of Dr. Mathew Dan, senior scientist at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. The West Ghats are his specialty area. He is an expert in systematics and the conservation of angiosperms. All three plants are members of the Balsaminaceae family, which has over 1,000 species in Africa, Madagascar, India and Sri Lanka. In India there are 210 taxa, 106 species are endemic to the Western ghats and 80 percent are threatened.
Read more: Indian Embassy in Kabul is evacuated; IAF plane arrives at Jamnagar airport
The team discovered that all three species are critically endangered based on their conservation status. ‘Landslides and elephant stampedes severely damaged achudanandanii’s habitat. Grasses and anthropogenic disturbances pose threats to all of these species. We have already identified about eight taxa in this region, and I am confident that extensive research will yield several new species to science’. Dr VS Anil from the Department of Botany, (Research centre, University of Kerala) University College, Thiruvananthapuram, explained that field surveys are currently ongoing in the region.
Post Your Comments