A new species of the sunflower family has been discovered in the north-eastern Indian Himalayas by researchers from the Palampur-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT).
Belonging to a family commonly referred to as Leopard’s Bane, it was found at an altitude of approximately 4,000 meters above sea level in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The new species, named Doronicum Sanctum, was identified during a comprehensive botanical survey of the Himalayan biodiversity hotspots in that region.
“CSIR-IHBT researchers have discovered a new species of Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum) in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. This is the first of its kind identified in Northeast India,” the institute posted on its official X handle.
A constituent laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), IHBT is located in Himachal Pradesh and carries out research on Himalayan plants having commercial importance and medicinal value for boosting the bio-economy through sustainable utilisation of Himalayan bio-resources,
According to the researchers, the discovery is significant as it is the first time that a member of the Doronicum genus has been documented in northeast India, whereas all previous Indian records for this plant were restricted to the western Himalayan region.
The findings of the research, undertaken by Rahul Kumar and Vikas Kumar from IHBT’s Environmental Technology Division, have been published by Springer Nature Link, an international peer reviewed journal.
The researchers collected samples of the plant from the field and carried out a detailed laboratory analysis to examine the plant’s anatomy and compared the specimens against existing herbarium records and global botanical literature.
Though the plant has a few common characteristics with several species found in Tibet and China, the researchers identified several unique physical features that singled it out as a distinct species.
“The new species is similar to two species, ‘D. conaense’ and ‘D. stenoglossum’ in the resemblance of inflorescences. However, it differs from these by its pubescent ray cypselae and presence of caducous pappus in the ray florets,” the researchers said.
Pubescent ray cypsela, according to botanical literature, is a hairy, dry, single-seeded fruit found on the outer edge of flower heads, while caducous pappus is a specialised plant structure that falls off or sheds early from a fruit before it is fully dispersed.
The new species also differs from the other two species in the shape of phyllaries, that is the individual, leaf-like bracts that form a protective cup or collar directly beneath the flower head of plants, and ray florets, which are small, strap-shaped individual flowers.
The discovery underscores the undiscovered biological wealth of the eastern Himalayas and highlights the urgent need for further exploration and conservation in one of the world’s most sensitive ecological zones, the researchers stressed.
