IMPHAL, July 22 - A new flower species which was spotted in Manipur�s Ukhrul district, during a recent adventure trip, has been identified as a ginger family flower called Caulokaempferia secunda, according to a popular flowers website (www.flowersofindia.net).
Tabish, creator of the website, confirmed that the flower is Caulokaempferia secunda and that there are three Caulokaempferia species in India. The other two are Caulokaempferia linearis and Caulokaempferia sikkimensis. The flower found in Ukhrul was identified by Durgesh Verma of Botanical Survey of India, he added.
The beautiful pink colour flower locally known as Phiyowon in Ukhrul district is a perennial herb with pseudostems erect. It is also found in eastern Himalayas, in Assam, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Indo-China region including Myanmar.
The flower blooms in abundance at Mount Hoyang Kachui located at Shingcha, 91 km north of Imphal. Some tourists who visited the area two years back named the flower Phiyowon. �Phi� comes from �philava� meaning �princess� and �yo� from �mayori� meaning �sweet� and �won� means flower. Thus the name signifies a princess blooming sweetly in the wild, according to Tennoson Pheiray, a member of the adventure trip organised under the initiative of Facebook group �Ihao� recently.
�The villagers found the habitat of the flower long time back but the flower which also grows in the native place of Shirui Lily, became popular only recently,� he said. Another member Rajeshwar Yumnam said the flower which blooms for about two weeks during mid-July, grows in the wild covering an area of about two sq km.
