ITANAGAR: A new tree species has been discovered in the Northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to researchers, the new tree species discovered in Arunachal Pradesh – Meiogyne arunachalensis – is new to science.
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The discovery of the new tree species in Arunachal Pradesh was published in May 19 edition of the Edinburgh Journal of Botany.
Researcher Navendu Page mentioned that this is the third species from India and the first from the eastern Himalayan and Northeast India region.
“The genus Meiogyne is distributed throughout South and Southeast Asia and includes approximately 33 described taxa,” Page said.
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He added: “The species shows morphological similarity with Meiogyne maxiflora, a species distributed in Thailand, but it differs in a number of vegetative and reproductive characters.”
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“Meiogyne arunachalensis is the largest species of the genus described so far in terms of tree height and girth of the tree trunk.”
The discovery of the tree species in Arunachal Pradesh is “the first record of the genus from Northeast India and the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot”.
The species has thus far been recorded in East Siang district and the Namdapha National Park in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
“It is also likely to be found in the intervening districts of Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit, and also in northern parts of Myanmar in areas neighbouring the Namdapha National Park.”
Meiogyne arunachalensis was discovered by the researcher during a biodiversity expedition to the Adi hills of Arunachal Pradesh.