GUWAHATI, Feb 22 - Botanical Survey of India (BSI) scientists have discovered a new species of Balsam plant in the North East region, again pointing to the rich plant biodiversity of the vast area.
Perhaps it needs no mention that biodiversity forms the foundation of the vast range of ecosystem services that critically contribute to human wellbeing. Plants, irrespective of their size, constitute the core of biodiversity.
Balsam plants are known as Demdeuka in Assamese, Gulmehendi in Hindi and Dushparijat in Sanskrit. They have immense potential in the horticultural sector as beautiful flowers and as pot plants. A few of them are used as wild leafy vegetables by different ethnic communities in states like Arunachal Pradesh.
A team of scientists comprising Dr M Murugesan, LR Meitei and C Lyngwa of the BSI Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong, collected a few interesting species of Balsam plants from various parts of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve of Garo Hills in Meghalaya in September 2018. They collected the Balsam plant species as a part of live plants collection for ex-situ conservation in the Barapani Experimental Botanical Garden.
Dr Rajib Gogoi, Senior Scientist and Head of the Gangtok-based Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre of the BSI, critically examined those species with relevant literature. He then confirmed that out of those samples, one species emerged to be a species unknown to science so far and it is distinctly different from all known species of the group due to the presence of smaller habit, pink and white bi-colour flowers and true bucciniform lower sepal with curved spur.
Report on this new species was recently published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal Nelumbo. The species has been named in honour of a renowned botanist Professor Shasin Kumar Barthakur of the Gauhati University (GU) Botany Department for his contribution towards better understanding of the flora of North East India, along with his outstanding contribution to ethnobotany of the region.
This striking bi-coloured new species grows at an altitude ranging between 1,200 metres and 1,600 metres at the Nokrek peak.
Dr Gogoi is the only expert on the Balsam group of plants of the North East and Eastern Himalayan region of India. He has been conducting various research programmes on Balsam group of plants of the Northeastern and Eastern Himalayan region of India for over one decade. He has so far discovered over two dozen new species of the Balsam group.
Dr Gogoi also recorded over 10 species as addition to the flora of India. These species were earlier known to be endemic to China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.
On top of these, one of the teams led by Dr Gogoi also discovered another two species, namely � Impatiens Kamrupana Gogoi, Jatindra Sarma, Borah and Impatienspseudolongipes Gogoi, Norbu Sherpa and Borah, from Kamrup district of Assam and West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh respectively during the last one year.
Moreover, Dr Gogoi together with Souravjyoti Borah of Gauhati University and two other colleagues published the book titled Balsams of Eastern Himalaya last year. This book is a landmark publication after Sir JD Hooker�s Flora of British India, on the subject.
