Guwahati: Scientists have rediscovered a rare flowering plant in Arunachal Pradesh that had not been recorded in India for more than a century.
The species, Geum macrosepalum, a little-known member of the rose family endemic to the Eastern Himalaya, was rediscovered in the Se La region between Tawang and West Kameng districts during a botanical survey conducted by researchers from the Botanical Survey of India.
The finding has now been documented in the international journal Phytotaxa.
The plant was last reliably collected in India in 1905 from Sikkim, with only a handful of historical records from the region. Researchers said the new discovery confirms the species’ continued survival in India after nearly 120 years.
During a botanical exploration conducted under the mandate “Assessing the impact of climate change on floristic and migration of vascular plants in alpine subalpine landscape of western Arunachal Pradesh,” the team comprising Subhajit Lahiri, Monalisa Das and Sudhansu Sekhar Dash found Geum specimens near Se La Pass in West Kameng district at an altitude of 4,200 metres.
Following a comprehensive study of protologues, type materials, herbarium specimens and related literature, the specimens were identified as Geum macrosepalum. They were found growing in alpine meadows and marshy terrain at high elevations.
Described as a perennial herb with pale yellow to ivory-yellow flowers tinged with red, the plant survives in one of the harshest and least explored landscapes of the Indian Himalaya. Photographs published with the study show its delicate drooping flowers emerging from dense alpine vegetation in the misty highlands around Se La Pass.
Researchers warned that despite the rediscovery, the species remains highly vulnerable. Using IUCN assessment criteria, the study classified Geum macrosepalum as “Vulnerable” in India because of its restricted distribution and continuing habitat pressure from developmental activities in fragile mountain ecosystems.
“The rediscovery of Geum macrosepalum emphasises the necessity to enhance floristic research in underexplored regions of the alpine zones of the Eastern Himalaya in India, as well as the critical need to conserve this forest fragment, which supports a limited population of an endemic species facing a significant risk of extinction,” the researchers wrote in the study.
Often described as one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, the Eastern Himalaya continues to yield remarkable discoveries from its remote mountain landscapes.
Scientists say rediscoveries like this are not merely scientific milestones, but also urgent reminders of how fragile and poorly understood these ecosystems remain in the face of climate change and habitat disturbance.
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