Guwahati: A new flowering plant species discovered in Assam by a Girijananda Chowdhury University (GCU) faculty member and a Guwahati-based botanist has been formally described in an international taxonomy journal.
Birina Bhuyan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany at GCU’s Azara campus, and botanist Selim Mehmud identified the plant, which has been named Ophiorrhiza assamensis. Their findings were recently published in Phytotaxa.
The plant was found growing in a moist and shady habitat near Satargaon Road in Kamrup Metropolitan district. It is a small perennial herb characterised by large, ribbed leaves and dense clusters of small white flowers.
The newly identified species belongs to the Rubiaceae family, commonly known as the coffee family. The Ophiorrhiza genus is known as a natural source of camptothecin, a compound used in the development of medicines for cancers, including colon cancer.
However, the researchers have cautioned that the newly identified species may already face a high risk of habitat loss. It is currently known only from a highly localised population, making it vulnerable to deforestation and development-related changes in its habitat.
Bhuyan and Mehmud have called for conservation measures to protect the species and its habitat. They have recommended that Ophiorrhiza assamensis be provisionally assessed as “Data Deficient” under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.
The discovery adds to the documented botanical diversity of Assam and highlights the need for further research and conservation of the state’s plant habitats, particularly those supporting narrowly distributed species.