Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) in Kerala have rediscovered an endangered tree species 184 years after its first collection in the Western Ghats.
A tree from the species has been identified in front of Koonayil Ayiravilli Siva temple at Paravur in Kollam district, Kerala.
Madhuca diplostemon is a species of flowering plant from Sapotaceae family.
It has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
It is believed that the species was a highly local endemic with a few individuals in the past, which were inadvertently removed for temple expansion in recent years.
Since the species is represented by a single mature individual in a single locality, it is assessed here as critically endangered, as per the IUCN criteria.
This tree is about 4-metre high; its bark fissured and leaves spirally arranged and crowded towards the branch.
