Thanks Swamy ji for sharing this important discovery On Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 7:33 AM, M Swamy <[email protected]> wrote:
> I am forwarding herewith the mail received on the subject. > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: V. Santharam <[email protected]> > Date: Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 10:12 AM > Subject: {MNS:7993} A new wild ginger discovered from the evergreen forest > of Western Ghats of South India > To: Madras Naturalists' Society <[email protected]> > > > A new wild ginger discovered from the evergreen forest of Western > Ghats of South India > > Intensive botanical explorations for taxonomic studies on the members > of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) in India by V.P. Thomas and M. > Sabu of the University of Calicut, have resulted in the discovery of > an interesting species of Amomum (Cardamom) from Silent Valley > National Park on the Western Ghats of Kerala. > > The ginger family consists of 53 genera and over 1,200 species, many > of which are widely used as spices, for medical purposes, or simply > for decoration. Amomum Roxb. is the second largest genus within the > Zingiberaceae, comprising about 150-180 species, including several > types of cardamom. Widely distributed in Southeast Asia, the genus is > represented by 23 species in India, mostly restricted to North-East > India, South India and the Andaman-Nicobar Islands. > > In the new species, the authors show some similarities with A. > masticatorium, although the two are clearly distinct. The new plant's > name refers to its locality, i.e. Nilgiri hills, a part of Western > Ghats and one of the hotspots of the Indian subcontinent. The most > notable feature of the plant is the presence of long ligules that > reach up to 9 cm long and small flowers with a long corolla tube. > Almost all parts of the plant are hairy. > > It is a high altitude species (found above 1,200 m), and attempts to > conserve it outside its natural locality were unsuccessful. The > conservation status evaluation revealed that it falls under the > critically endangered category of the International Union for > Conservation of Nature, 2001. Conservation measures are to be carried > out very urgently to recover the plant from extinction. > > Original source: > > Thomas VP, Sabu M, Prabhu Kumar KM (2012) Amomum nilgiricum > (Zingiberaceae), a new species from Western Ghats, India. PhytoKeys 8: > 99-104. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.8.2152 > > Additional information: > > From the 1st of January 2012, PhytoKeys is publishing each paper > separately, on the day it is approved by the editors. The article by > Prof Sabu is the closing one for the 8th issue of the journal, making > it complete. > > http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/pp-anw010512.php > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Madras Naturalists' Society" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/blackbuck?hl=en?hl=en > for other info contact [email protected] > > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
