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It was in 1835 that Madhuca diplostemon, a threatened species of the Western Ghats, was noticed
A tree species, lengthy believed extinct, has been rediscovered after a niche of greater than 180 years from a sacred grove in Kollam district.
Scientists on the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode right here have recognized the tree as Madhuca diplostemon (household Sapotaceae), a threatened species of the Western Ghats whose specimen was first collected in 1835.
Only one mature tree has been found to date, which makes this outstanding rediscovery extraordinarily useful from a scientific, environmental and conservation standpoint. A paper on the discovering authored by Shailajakumari S., Santhosh Kumar E.S., Sreekala A.{K}., and R. Prakashkumar of the JNTBGRI and Parthipan B. of S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil, has been printed in Rheedea, the journal of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy.
The lone mature tree was positioned on the Koonayil Ayiravilli Siva Temple at Paravur, Kollam. Locally, it was erroneously believed to be the widespread Attilippa. Shailajakumari, one of many authors of the paper, had collected a specimen and introduced it to JNTBGRI two years in the past as a part of her PhD dissertation. However, surveys in different sacred groves in Kollam district failed to seek out one other tree of the species. Since the species is represented solely by one specimen in a single locality, it’s eligible to be categorised ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN, the JNTBGRI has famous.
Madhuca diplostemon has an attention-grabbing historical past. In 1835, Robert Wight, a surgeon-botanist with the East India Company, had collected three specimens. In 1848, he described it as Diospyros obovata in his well-known work, the Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis. Later C.B. Clarke corrected it as Isonanandra diplostemon and, in 1960, P. Royen described it as Madhuca diplostemon.
Interestingly, “since its original collection, specimens of Madhuca diplostemon were never collected again, neither from its locality nor elsewhere, and botanical explorations in Eastern and Western Ghats failed to locate the species,” notes the paper on the rediscovery.
The JNTBGRI is planning to undertake the ex situ conservation of this species by means of the institute’s species restoration programme, JNTBGRI director R. Prakashkumar, one of many authors of the paper, says.
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