Humboldtia nairiana: New Evergreen Tree Species
Researchers have discovered a new evergreen tree species from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala and have officially named it as Humboldtia nairiana.
- It is a new evergreen tree species belonging to the genus Humboldtia.
- The species identified in the riparian forests of the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary.
- It is a medium-sized evergreen tree that grows between 5 to 8 metres in height.
- It possesses stable and distinguishing features including a unique warty, pale brown bark with a distinct creamy-white blaze; angled, glabrous branchlets.
- It has distinctly shorter, sparsely hairy, isometric stipules and appendages;
- It consists of larger flowers with comparatively long pedicels, and produces elliptic-oblong fruits with a shorter beak.
- It is strictly endemic to Kerala and is presently known only from the biodiversity-rich Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary:
- It is located in the southern part of the Western Ghats in Kerala.
- It forms part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
- Most of the Sanctuary area is hilly and interspersed with ravines.
- The major rivers are Shendurney, Kazhuthuruthy, and Kulathupuzha, which join together to form the Kallada River.
- The vegetation primarily consists of tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, and moist deciduous forests.
