Three research scholars, one from the United States, have discovered a new plant in Kerala’s Ponmudi hills which is part of the Western Ghats, one of the eight hot spots of biological diversity in the world.
The plant, named Symplocos Mohananii, carries white flowers that usually bloom at night.
They named the plant ‘Symplocos Mohananii’ after Dr N Mohanan, former principal scientist and now scientific adviser of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Wayanad, north Kerala. The scholars said the tree was named after the scientist for his outstanding contribution spanning 37 years in the field of taxonomy and conservation of biodiversity. Mohanan discovered more than 33 new species from the Western Ghats.
Stephan J, Akhil R, both from the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research institute in Palode , and Peter W Fritsch, curator and scientist from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, US, have been doing research on ‘Symplocos Mohananii’ for more than four years.
Written by Sayoni Mahapatra Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 