A team of researchers from India and the Philippines has discovered a 15-metre-tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family from the Andaman Islands.
- The new species, Pyrostria laljii, is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India. It has been named Pyrostria laljii after Lal Ji Singh, Joint Director and Head of Office, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India.
- Pyrostria laljii has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.
- Plants belonging to genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar, but the recently discovered species is new to science.
- The tree is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk and oblong-obovate leaves with a cuneate base, and was first reported from the Wandoor forest in South Andaman.
(Source: The Hindu)
