Context
A group of researchers has discovered a new flowering plant species in the high-altitude regions of the Sikkim Himalayas and named it Melanoseris pendryi.
About Melanoseris pendryi.
- The species has been recorded at elevations above 4,000 metres, where vegetation survives under extreme cold and windy conditions.
- Botanists have placed the plant under the genus Melanoseris, which belongs to the Asteraceae family of flowering plants.
- The genus is distributed across a wide geographical region extending from Iran to parts of Central China, Northern Indo-China and Java.
- The plant usually grows very close to the ground amid cushion-shaped alpine shrubs, helping it withstand strong mountain winds.
- Its survival in the harsh Himalayan environment is supported by a thick, fleshy and branching root system.
- A distinctive feature of the species is its lavender-purple ligules whose lower surfaces are covered with long white hairs.
- Researchers have also noted a comparatively short floral tube and a stout seed structure that distinguish it from related species.
- Due to increasing ecological pressure from tourism and grazing activities in alpine grasslands, scientists have recommended the species for Critically Endangered
