Researchers discover new flowering plant ‘Begonia Narahari’ in Arunachal

The plant has been named after a scientist from Hyderabad, G. Narahari Sastry

Researchers have recently discovered a new colourful flowering plant species, ‘Begonia Narahari’ in the Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district.

The plant has a distinctive feature of displaying a vivid blue iridescence in direct light.

The new species was discovered growing on sandstone hill slopes covered in various species of ferns and mosses by research scholar Bipankar Hajong and assistant professor Nazir Ahmad Bhat of the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) under the guidance of senior scientist Pankaj Bharali of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST).

According to reports, Begonia belongs to the family Begoniaceae and comprises about 2,100 species. It is considered as one of the largest and fastest growing genera of flowering plants. It is mainly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

According to reports, the discovery was confirmed as a new species within the Begonia sect after a thorough evaluation of the specimens using pertinent literature, expert examination, and a consultation of the herbarium held at the Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong and Arunachal Pradesh.

The plant discovery was also published in reputed international journal ‘Phytotaxa’ in its latest issue.

The plant has been named after a scientist from Hyderabad, G. Narahari Sastry in recognition of “his immense contribution to establishing the Germplasm Conservation Centre for the Bioresources at NEIST campus, his unwavering commitment to improving the well-being of the people in the northeastern region and for providing the necessary facilities to conduct our work, reported The Hindu.

G. Narahari Sastry is also the former CSIR-Director of North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat (Assam).

Dr. Sastry, who is in his late 50s, is extremely humbled by the exceptional honor.

“I had no role in the discovery. My name has been affixed because of the scientists’ affection towards me,” he said.

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