Guwahati: In a remarkable botanical rediscovery, scientists have found a rare Himalayan flowering plant in Arunachal Pradesh that had not been recorded in India for 158 years, underscoring the rich but still poorly understood biodiversity of the Eastern Himalayas.
The plant, Cyananthus hookeri, a tiny purple-blue flowering species belonging to the bellflower family (Campanulaceae), was rediscovered near Chuna Valley, close to Mago village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district during a field survey in September 2025. The finding marks the first confirmed record of the species in India since it was last collected in Sikkim by renowned British botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1867.
The discovery was reported by Subhajit Lahiri and Monalisa Das, under the supervision of Sudhansu Sekhar Dash of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), in the journal Oryx.
The researchers found the species growing on alpine grassy and rocky slopes at an altitude of about 3,600 metres in the high Himalayas of Tawang district. They observed only a handful of plants, with populations comprising just three to seven mature individuals at the collection site.
The rediscovery is significant because Cyananthus hookeri has a highly restricted distribution across the eastern Himalayas, occurring in Bhutan, China, Nepal and Tibet. In India, however, the species had remained elusive for more than a century and a half despite extensive botanical explorations.
After searching Indian and international herbarium records, the researchers found only two previous Indian collections of the species, both made in Sikkim in 1867. The Arunachal find is therefore not only the first record of the species in India in 158 years but also the first-ever report of it from Arunachal Pradesh.
The scientists estimate that there are fewer than 50 mature individuals of the plant in India and have recommended that it be categorised as Endangered nationally under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.
The researchers said the assessment reflects the high extinction risk faced by the species in India and could help mobilise resources for conservation efforts.
The rediscovery also highlights how the remote mountains of Arunachal Pradesh continue to yield scientific surprises, reinforcing the region’s status as one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots.
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