Guwahati: Mal Sâwmliana, a forest conservator in the Champhai area in Mizoram routinely embarks on botanical trips to discover and document interesting plant species. This time it was lucky for him as he found an orchid species which was a new orchid species.
A new orchid species Bulbophyllum gopalianum (Gopal’s Bulbophyllum) was found by Mal Sâwmliana from the Lurh area in Champhai which is situated on the easternmost fringes of the Indo-Myanmar Biodiversity Hotspot. The discovery of the new orchid species has been published in The Nordic Journal of Botany.
Pankaj Kumar, an Asian orchid expert based at Texas Tech University, USA who is the corresponding author of the study said Mal Sâwmliana found the orchid and shared his discovery with me via the ‘efloraofindia’ Google community for Indian flora.
” I collaborated with Khyanjeet Gogoi, an orchid expert from Assam, for further examination and dissection of flowers that need a lot of precision. Following a meticulous analysis of the specimen and the existing literature I confirmed it as a new species after consultation with Khyanjeet and Jeewan Singh Jalal, a Scientist at the Botanical Survey of India” Pankaj told EastMojo.
The species has been named after Gopal Singh Rawat, former Director and Dean of the Faculty of Wildlife Sciences at the Wildlife Institute of India, for his significant contributions to ecology and taxonomy in India.
The study said the orchid species was found at a single site in Champai District of Mizoram towards the Myanmar border. Plants were confined to a single population, scattered on two different tree trunks of Lithocarpus dealbatus in eight distinct clumps. The area occurs outside any designated protected area. The number of mature individuals is estimated to be less than 50.
The orchid population occurs less than 5 km from Myanmar and owing to contiguous habitat in abundance, the species is likely to occur across the border.
“This species is assessed as Critically Endangered based on its very small and restricted population size. As such there is no threat documented, however, the general threat is habitat loss. The best way to conserve this species would be to conserve the habitat and bring the plants under cultivation” he said.
He said the discovery of a new orchid species underscores the biodiversity richness of Mizoram while highlighting the urgent need for further exploration and conservation efforts in the region. “The area likely harbours numerous undiscovered species, yet the alarming rate of biodiversity loss poses a risk of species extinction before they can be documented and protected” he added.
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