• Two researchers from the Botany Department of the Andhra University and the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, have found a new plant species in the Eastern Ghats.
• The species found on the Galikonda hill, known for its scenic beauty in the Araku valley in the tribal area of Visakhapatnam district, is named Emilia reddyi.

More Details:

• Belonging to the family of Asteraceae, the plant with light violet plum-coloured flowers blossoms between September and February.
• The crowned tassel flower has been given the botanical name Emilia reddyi, honouring NRSC scientist C. Sudhakar Reddy for his significant contribution to the field of plant taxonomy and biodiversity conservation in the country.
• The plant has been deposited in the herbarium of the Andhra University and the Central National Herbarium, Kolkata. During the studies, 70 Emilia reddyi plants were found in a physical survey of 22.6 ha on the Galikonda hill.
• Through ISRO satellite map and analysis, it has been estimated that it can grow in the vicinity in 2,612.1 ha.
• Unlike the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats are largely unexplored and the plant is endemic to the area in which it is found, the researchers observe.

Need for conservation

• The area is limited and the number of plants are few.
• On application of the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature for new species, they have grouped it under the ‘critically endangered’ category.

Source: The Hindu